Still Doll
by Lynyrd Lionheart
Summary: Silas decided to break her. So she cracked like glass beneath his fists. Now, with Caroline unable to feel and unwilling to listen to her friends, it will be up to Klaus to put her back together before Silas successfully moulds her into his dark queen. AU after 4x17
1. Prologue: Mad World

**AN: Elements of this story have been cannonballed now that 4x18 has been released. Still, please enjoy my Klaroline filled version of what I would write for the rest of S4 if it was up to me.**

**Prologue. Mad World**

"_And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had." ~Mad World, Gary Jules_

Caroline had been tortured before.

In fact, she considered herself a bit of a pro when it came to being tortured. Vervain ropes and sunlight without a ring? Been there. Stakes through the hands and wood in the head? Done that. If it weren't for the fact that it was so damn painful, Caroline would say the whole torture thing was getting old.

But Silas? Silas knew ways to torture that even Caroline hadn't experienced before. The beauty of his torture wasn't in the physical pain, though there was plenty of that. No, it was in the mental agony that he so expertly applied.

Because Silas could take on the form of anyone he chose, dead or alive.

And Silas had been making a study of Caroline Forbes, it appeared, because he knew exactly where to strike.

"You can do this, sweetie. We can fix you."

"She likes the kill. She told me so."

"If you don't bring Tyler, she dies."

"Useless, shallow, and I'm done with you."

"She's not my daughter. Not anymore."

Her father, Alaric, Jules, Damon, her mother. Other times it was Bonnie and Matt, or Elena without her humanity reminding her of how weak she was, looking at Klaus in _that way_, even though it was his fault Tyler was gone.

"You know, you can make this all stop."

Caroline frowned and looked up from where she was cowering in the corner of the dank cellar. This voice was new. This wasn't one of the memories torturing her. Her eyes met a pair of slate grey ones, set in a dark skinned, classically handsome face that was framed by raven black hair. She hadn't never seen this face before, but she knew it belonged to.

"Silas?" she asked, and her voice croaked.

"I've heard so much about you," Silas said, ignoring the question. He knew she didn't really need an answer. "The baby vampire with the control of a creature far older. The golden girl who runs Mystic Falls. The unbreakable Miss Sunshine whose light can never be put out. You're like a flame, Caroline, and us monsters are the moths that gather around us. Tyler Lockwood, Stefan Salvatore, Niklaus Mikaelson, they all want to be better men for you. I'm not so foolish, though. Two thousand years is far too long. I have no better left in me. No, in my case Damon Salvatore's methods are far more appealing. I'm going to break you, Caroline." Silas' words are said softly, spoken in an almost loving tone of voice. "I'm going to break you, and then I'm going to piece you back together in the shape I want you. It would be easier if you didn't fight it too hard."

Caroline's eyes spat blue fire at Silas, and the man threw back his head and laughed. It didn't sound like a villain's laugh, but villain's so rarely fit the mould in which fairytale's paint them. More often than not, the monsters are the most attractive, the most compelling. Caroline knew from experience that that was what made them dangerous.

"Your eyes are so like hers," Silas sighed. "She always looked at me like that, too, with such fire. It was what attracted me to you. Oh, don't look at me with such horror. You're not a doppleganger for my dead love as young Miss Gilbert is for the Petrova line. In fact, you are quite the opposite of my love. She was as dark as you are bright, but those eyes of yours. They have the same expression. It's not the packaging, Caroline my dear, but what's inside that truly matters. I don't need her packaging, I just need her spirit. I will break you, just as I broke her." He cupped her cheek with his hand. "You will be the queen she never got to be."

"I thought you were going to bring her back," Caroline said. "I killed your witches; shouldn't you be off unleashing hell on Earth?"

And saying the words still brought the bile to Caroline's throat. It still made her ache with guilt, but she couldn't regret her actions. Killing those witches meant Bonnie lived, and Caroline would face hell on Earth as long as Bonnie was there to face it with her.

"I wish to unleash hell on Earth for vengeance, sweet Caroline. But no, my love will not be there. She was human, not a drop of magic in her. Even with the final sacrifice, she will not come back to me. But you are here, and you will help me get my vengeance on the one that escaped me."

"Qetsiyah," Caroline murmured. "This is all so you can have revenge on Qetsiyah."

"So clever."

Silas pressed his lips to Caroline's and she tried to rear back and remove her lips from his, but Silas simply moved his hand to the back of her neck and held her more firmly. When his tongue tried to invade her mouth, Caroline bit down hard and Silas reared back.

"Oh yes!" he laughed, wiping blood away from his mouth, leaving a red smear behind. "You have her spirit. Let's continue, shall we?"

And Silas once again became Bill, and the cycle continued.

**AN: So, Caroline always seems to attract the attention of characters with a darker side (Klaus, Damon, Katherine, evil Alaric, even Stefan and Tyler to some extent), so I figured why not Silas as well? If anyone is curious, the inspiration (and title) for this story comes from the end credits of the first season of "Vampire Knight." They are creepy, and the song that plays during them is called "Still Doll." You should go check them out. If you imagine Yuuki as being blonde, she would basically be Caroline from this story in those end credits. I'm going to put the poor girl through hell.**

**Please continue onto chapter 1 if this piqued your interest.**


	2. Seven Devils

**AN: And here is the first full chapter…**

**One. Seven Devils**

"_Seven devils all around you, seven devils in my house. See they were there when I woke up this morning and I'll be dead before the day is done." ~Seven Devils, Florence + The Machine_

Elena Gilbert had decided that being without her humanity was far better than having her "switch" turned on. When she was like this, everything was so much _clearer_. There were no pesky emotions affecting her decisions and holding her back. She could do exactly what was needed when she needed to.

Yet, even without her emotions she couldn't ignore the call of the graveyard. It was a compulsion, stronger even the sire bond she had experienced to Damon. She couldn't exactly claim that she felt anything, sitting in front of the gravestones that marked the resting places of pretty much every parental figure that had ever entered her life, but she couldn't walk away as if they didn't matter, either.

"Memories can be bittersweet," Stefan said from behind her, and Elena wanted to roll her eyes. He was _always_ there, just behind her, as if he felt she needed a babysitter. And if it wasn't Stefan, then it was Damon, or Caroline, who still gave her the evil eye for attacking Liz. Elena hadn't been kidding when she'd told Caroline she should turn it off. To be honest, Elena didn't understand why anyone would choose to keep it on, not when it felt so much better to be like this.

"Memories are just memories," Elena told Stefan, getting to her feet. Whatever hold had kept her at the graves had broken when Stefan made his appearance, and Elena could mentally scoff at herself now for the nostalgia that had brought her to the cemetery in the first place. "So, you're on babysitting duty today, are you? Honestly Stefan, I promise not to eat another cheerleader. All the ones I could find here are full of vervain anyway."

"Actually, I'm here to ask you if you know where Caroline is," Stefan replied, falling into step with Elena as she began to walk away from the gravestones. "She hasn't answered her phone since Monday."

"Lost track of your Lexi replacement?" Elena scoffed. "Whatever will the Ripper do? Maybe actually dare to have some fun?"

"That's funny," Stefan said. "And I'd laugh, only its Wednesday now. Caroline doesn't go ten minutes without answering her texts, and the only way she misses a call is if she's being tortured or ignoring you. Now, I'm not the one who attacked her mom, so I doubt she's ignoring me. I know you're all emotionless now. I get it, really I do. I've been there, and it feels great, right until it doesn't. But do you think you could try and dig deep and find a bit of worry for your best friend? Just a little bit?"

"Do I sense a hint of sarcasm there?" Elena gasped with mock surpise. "Oh, are you finally beginning to give up on my humanity? Saint Stefan? That's _shocking_. As it is, I have no interest in the Queen's location. As long as it's not around me, I'm happy."

"Silas is running about, and none of us know what he looks like, Elena. He could have Caroline."

"So? It's not like Caroline's never been tortured before, Stefan. I'm sure she'll be just fine until you can come along and save her. Oooh, or you could send Klaus. I mean, he's an ass, but since Tyler's gone, Caroline needs to get laid, and since _you_ haven't done anything to help her with that, maybe you should step back from the saviour role for someone who would." Elena gave him a look of mock disappointment. "It's really too bad she didn't take you for a ride, though. I even had a couple name picked out for you guys. _Steroline_, it has such a ring to it. I guess now I'll have to root for Klaus instead." Elena tapped her lips with her finger. "What would you call that one? Klausoline? Carolaus? Klaroline? I think I like Klaroline best."

"This isn't a joking matter, Elena-"

"I'm not joking, Stefan. I take my shipping very seriously. It's not real until it has a name. All my favorite couples have ship names… Johnlock, Destiel, Shenny. It's serious business."

"I can see that you're going to be no help in this mood," Stefan stated, running a hand through his hair. "So I guess I'll leave you here to do whatever it was you were doing. You might be right about Klaus, though. At least he seems to care enough that he might actually contribute something useful."

"Good luck with that!" Elena called at Stefan's retreating back. She had to smirk at how easy he was to rile these days. Elena turned, planning on going back home, maybe going to the next town over for a snack, but something made her pause. It was the same strange compulsion that had sent her to the graves of her dead relatives, and now it was telling her to go after Stefan. Caroline could be a total queen bitch after all, but she _was_ Elena's queen bitch. "Oh, crap. Stefan, wait!"

It sucked that even with her humanity off, Elena was still driven to the good thing. Being bad was just so much _easier_.

Klaus was painting.

He knew Rebekah was trying to tell him about her trip to New York with Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert, but Klaus found that he didn't particularly care. He was far too involved with his painting, and determinedly trying not to think of Caroline Forbes, who could cut him to the quick with her harsh words and cold eyes one moment, and give him hope that life was worth living in the next. He needed to forget her, and painting his emotions, until they were all on canvass and out of his heart seemed to be the best way.

"Are you listening to me, Nik?" Rebekah asked, exasperated. "I just told that we lost Katherine Pierce. _Again_. I blame that idiot Doppleganger."

"Well, as long as Katerina has the cure, it means Silas is missing the last ingredient for bringing about hell on Earth. This once, I suppose it's better that Katerina remains missing," Klaus stated, finally acknowledging that he did, in fact, realize that Rebekah was there.

"How exactly _did_ Silas manage to pull off his final sacrifice?" Rebekah demanded. "You knew. How was it not stopped?"

"There was a choice," Klaus replied idly, looking at the canvass before him and frowning thoughtfully. The color of the blue wasn't quite perfect. It didn't quite match Caroline's eyes. "We could kill the witches, or let the witches kill Bonnie. Caroline made the decision for us. She chose wrong."

And it still rankled, that the girl who could look at him and so easily cast judgement, then turned around and killed those witches, all twelve of them, in the name of one person whose existence, in the scheme of things, was a mere blip. It rankled even more that Klaus still craved her approval. He still yearned to be a better man for Caroline Forbes, even if he was finally coming to realize that she wasn't the angel he had looked upon her as.

It rankled that this fact made him love her more. She was brave, beautiful, full of light and so perfectly imperfect that Klaus couldn't help but love her even more with each imperfection he uncovered. Even as he hated her inconsistencies and hypocrisy, he fell more in love with her because of them. Caroline was so… _human_. She would live and die for the people she loved. And Klaus envied those people more than he could ever say.

"I would have expected her to be dead for that," Rebekah commented. "But she's obviously not, and her idiocy obviously didn't put you off of your odd attraction to her. Haven't you painted that child enough?"

"She killed for Bonnie out of love and loyalty," Klaus said, removing his brush from the canvass and looking at Caroline's likeness upon it. It was her, as she had stood before him and whispered _I just killed twelve people_; so beautifully broken, yet she hadn't been regretful. Klaus knew, to the very center of his being, that she would make that same choice over and over again if she had to. "Isn't that what you're searching for? What you want the cure for? To find a love so powerful you would kill for it?"

"You're not me. We do not love, we do not care. How many times have you said those words to me, Nik? Loving Caroling will be your greatest weakness."

Klaus didn't have a reply for that, because it was all true. He turned his back to his sister and set brush to canvass again.

Then the door crashed open downstairs.

"Klaus!" Stefan shouted, and Klaus heard him flash up the stairs seconds before he appeared in the room. "We need to talk."

"Hello Stefan. It's wonderful to see you. How am I? Oh, you know. The same old," Rebekah said airily.

"I wouldn't try sarcasm," Elena, who had appeared just behind Stefan, told Rebekah. "He's in no mood to deal with it. He's afraid for one half of Steroline."

"Steroline?" Rebekah asked blankly, staring at the Doppleganger.

"You know, Stefan and Caroline. Together they're Steroline. I ship it, but Stefan's being all moody so I'm thinking about hopping over to the S.S. Klaroline," Elena looked at the painting that was before Klaus and gave a little nod. "Yeah, I mean that's kind of dedication right there, and I bet you'd convince the little princess to let her hair down a bit. She's so uptight. I mean, she was as a human, but it's way worse now that she's a vampire."

"As wonderful as this nonsensical conversation is," Klaus interrupted coldly. "Perhaps you'd best get to the explanations, Elena. What is wrong with Caroline?"

"I haven't heard from her in three days," Stefan explained. "She isn't answering any calls or texts. Bonnie hasn't seen her either, and after that whole sacrifice thing, you know Bonnie is the first person Caroline would go to. With Silas on the loose… I'm worried, Klaus."

Klaus set down his brush and moved to sit on the couch. Elena flounced over and sat in the arm chair across from him, and it reminded Klaus so much of the day she had come to him, begging him to call off Kol, that he had to roll his eyes. Of course, this time the doppleganger's eyes were vacant, empty of the fire that had lit them that day as she had fought so valiantly for her friends.

"Do you know where Silas could be? Because as much of a torture survival pro as Caroline is, there is a good chance that Silas is a better torturer than she is a survivor, and who knows what he'll get out of her. She's kind of terrible at keeping secrets, even without adding pain."

Klaus looked at Elena and considered snapping her neck. As much as he had disliked the too righteous version, he thought he might dislike this without humanity Elena even more.

"He attacked me, the day after the sacrifice," Klaus admitted, looking to Stefan and putting thoughts of the doppleganger aside for the time being. "Caroline came to my assistance. She may have faced down Silas when he came back to see how I was handling the… outcome of our confrontation. I was surprised when he left her alive, but I thought he perhaps viewed her as beneath his notice. Now I have to reconsider that opinion."

"Maybe you should try calling her," Elena suggested, and both Stefan and Klaus roll their eyes. "No, seriously. Stefan doesn't think Caroline would be ignoring him, but she did just kill twelve people a few days ago. Maybe she's gone into hiding and is too guilty to answer his calls. You, on the other hand, are safe. You've done way worse than kill a handful of witches. Why would she feel guilty talking to you?"

"That… actually makes a bit of sense. It's better than nothing, anyways."

Stefan looked at Klaus hopefully, and Klaus almost looked away from his old friend's gaze guiltily. There _are_ reasons that Caroline would feel guilty about talking to him. Reasons revolving around sweet kisses and her too quick retreat from him after he had come back to himself. Klaus knew it had been out of pity, because he had been all but out of his mind with hallucinations, and kissing him had been the only way to ground him in any sort of reality. They hadn't really _meant_ anything to Caroline, not really, but her taste still lingered on his tongue even now.

"I suppose I can try, but I doubt it will work, Stefan. I'm not Caroline's favorite person, not after the Tyler debacle."

"I'm sure she'll get over it," Elena offered. "I have great faith that the Klaroline ship will sail happily into the sunset together. Maybe I'll gif it."

"I thought you said that you shipped _Steroline_," Rebekah sneered. "Whatever shipping is."

Klaus growled exasperatedly and dragged Stefan away from the two women as Elena launched into a drawn out explanation of supporting couples, and coming up with "ship" names, and how Destiel was happening, she could feel it in her freaking _bones_.

"I'll need her number," Klaus muttered to Stefan, pulling up the dial screen on his phone. Stefan quickly rattled off a series of numbers and Klaus typed them in. The phone began to ring, and after three had passed, Klaus had given up on anyone answering. Then the ringing stopped.

"I don't suppose I'd be lucky enough for this to be Niklaus?" asked a male voice that Klaus immediately recognized as belonging to Professor Shane, alias Silas.

"Why do you have Caroline's phone?" Klaus growled. Stefan throat bobbed as he swallowed heavily and listened closely to the conversation, and even Elena and Rebekah's argument had come to a halt as the pair also listened.

"Caroline and I are spending some time together," Silas replied. "I really have to commend you on your taste, Klaus. She has such… _fire_. When she interfered with my plans for you, well, I _had_ planned on simply killing me, but then she looked at me and… well, you of all people should know the look I'm talking about. Defiant and strong, and full of determination. As far as she was concerned, I wasn't getting anywhere near you. Normally, I wouldn't interfere in affairs of the heart. I'm a romantic, you see, but I'm afraid I couldn't let you have her. I really do apologize, but the sweet Caroline is mine now. But I will of course let you have your last moment with her. Here, just let me…"

There was silence on the other line, then a rustling, and finally deep, pained breathing sounded in Klaus' ear.

"Caroline?" Klaus asked, and his voice was stricken with fear, hardly louder than a whisper.

"Klaus," Caroline replied through those ragged breaths. "I think I may have gotten in over my head."

"Where are you, Caroline? Tell me, and I'll come get you."

"There's no saving me, Klaus. Not this time."

"Care, listen to me. You're a fighter. Keep fighting and we'll get you. I promised you, remember?" Stefan said, his worried gaze meeting Klaus'.

"Stefan. It's good to hear you. You need to find Katherine, Stefan. Get her away. So far away no one will ever find her and-"

"Now Sweetie, you know that's not allowed. But don't worry, we'll fix that too," a voice interrupted Caroline's frantic plea to Stefan, and Klaus could see despair well up in Stefan's eyes. Whoever that voice belonged too, it was familiar to Stefan, if not to Klaus. A quick glance at Elena's startled expression showed that she recognized it as well.

Klaus opened his mouth to ask Stefan why that voice caused him such worry, when Caroline's screams began to echo over the phone. They were soul-crushing and full of agony, and Klaus found himself bellowing at Silas unintelligibly right along with her.

"She'll be glorious," Silas said coming back on the phone. "Once I'm done with her, she'll be the most glorious creature you've ever seen, Klaus. I'll shatter her, break her into a million pieces, and then build her back in the shape I decide. There will be nothing human left in her. A fitting Queen for me, wouldn't you agree? Stefan, if you do contact Katerina Petrova, be sure to tell her that I will be seeing her soon, won't you?"

The dial tone echoed in the room as Silas hung up the phone. All four vampires were silent a the implications of what was happening to their friend (or whatever she was to Klaus and Rebekah) hit them.

Klaus crushed the fragile phone and threw the shattered pieces across the room with a pained bellow. Rebekah stepped towards him, but Stefan placed a hand on her arm to bring her to a halt. Klaus ignored them both, breathing deeply as Silas' words echoed in his mind.

He was the one who had called Caroline for help.

He was the one who had exposed her to Silas.

He had to get her back.

"Who did the voice belong to?" Klaus croaked. "The one that called her sweetie."

Stefan stared at Klaus in silence. Elena stared at Stefan.

"Who. Was. It?" Klaus demanded, advancing on Stefan with every intention of ripping off limbs until he got his answer.

"Her dad," Elena interjected quickly, standing from her seat. "It belonged to Bill Forbes, Caroline's dad. Only he's dead."

"Silas can take on the form of dead loved ones," Rebekah said softly. "It must be horrid for her, to be tortured by someone wearing her father's face."

"It really happened," Elena replied, her voice even more void of emotion than usual. "Silas isn't using Caroline's loved ones to torture her. He's using her memory. That means Jules, Alaric, the hybrids, even Damon. He can make her relive it all."

"She survived it before," Stefan said quickly. "She can survive it now. She will survive it now."

"Two years of torture repeated over and over again?" Elena replied dryly. "Don't kid yourself, Stefan. Caroline's only choice will be to turn off her humanity, just like Silas wants." She gave a bitter laugh and looked at Klaus. "I told her to, you know. I told her she should shut off her humanity and it would make everything easier. I didn't think it would happen like this."

"I really don't care about your guilt, Elena," Klaus snapped in reply. "Keep it turned off until we've found Caroline. You're of no use to us as an emotional mess."

"And neither are you," Elena replied coldly. "In fact, right now, I'm the most useful person here. You and Stefan are driven by your love for Caroline. Rebekah is driven by her love for you. I'm the only one who can look at this situation with a cool head. And my cool head tells me we need Bonnie. She brought Silas into our lives; she can damn well help get him back out."

It was a tempting thought, to simply rip out the Doppleganger's heart. It would solve so many issues, but Klaus had to admit that Elena was right. At the moment, she was the only one who _didn't_ care, at least not in high enough levels to rush to her friend's side haphazardly as she normally would.

"Then let's get Bonnie," Klaus agreed. "But you should know, Elena, that if we don't get Caroline back alive, there will be absolutely nothing left to keep me from painting this whole town red."

"I'm not worried about getting her back alive, Klaus," Elena said quietly. It was the most human she had sounded since her arrival. "I'm worried about what he'll have done to her mind. She is the strongest of us, but even Caroline Forbes has a breaking point and Silas has pushed her to the edge of it."

"I don't want to look at you and see what I'm seeing."

Caroline moaned as Matt's voice invaded the depths of her conscious. She had been floating in and out of reality, and she was having difficulty telling what was a Silas induced vision and what was simply the recollection of her own mind. She was fracturing. She could feel it. Every now and then, Silas would make her relive the pain of one of her tortures, as he had when she had been speaking to Klaus and Stefan, but for the most part it was psychological. He would be Bill, telling her that she just needed to try harder and she would be fixed. It was Liz, saying that her daughter was dead, or Damon calling her shallow and useless. Right now it was Matt, unable to handle the fact that she was a vampire, but just an hour ago he had been Tyler, watching with a stony face as Jules held a gun filled with wooden bullets to her head.

She was cracking, breaking at the seams.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Caroline croaked, her voice breaking from her tears.

"I told you, my sweet Caroline," Silas replied, and it was a moment of sweet reprieve, because the voice and the hand that reached out to her really belonged to Silas, and not to her memories. He had become Professor Shane again, for the brief call from Klaus, but he didn't bother with the disguise with Caroline. "I want you to be my queen, but you're not ready for it yet. You will be, once we're done. You have such potential. You showed it, when you finished my sacrifice, when you stared me down across Klaus' hall and dared me to try and harm him. But that potential is hidden by the expectations you have pushed on yourself. Remove them, Caroline. Turn it all off."

"I won't be the same girl," Caroline responded. "I won't have the fire you claim to want so badly. This is useless."

"You will never lose the fire," Silas laughed. "It is far too integral a part of you. Your self-imposed halo will only get a little tarnished. It's already began, why not let go? Elena's life is easier without it. Don't you remember?"

"Maybe then you won't have to feel guilty about all those dirty thoughts you have about Klaus." The voice became Elena's so suddenly that it almost startled Caroline. She looked up into the likeness of her friend's brown eyes, devoid of emotion as they had been the day of the competition. Familiar anger rose in Caroline at the memory.

"Go to hell."

Silas as Elena sighed, and then melted into just Silas once more.

"Such a pity. I didn't want to have to take this next step, Caroline," Silas said, and his expression was almost sad. "But, I think I always knew it would come to this. Sleep for now, my dear. Tomorrow is a new day."

The words from anyone else would have been reassuring. From Silas, they were haunting.

**AN: Yes, I made Elena a shipper. Why? Because a lot of this story is going to be dark, and I need some humour, so shipper Elena will supply that. As I said, I started this story prior to 4x18 being released, so it still contains parts of my head canon for that episode. Please R & R and if you like this, then go try my other story "Conversations With Myself," which **_**is**_ **my first priority, though I do have the next chapter of this story written and hope to update with relative frequency. **


	3. Little Lion Man

**AN: So, I will say this immediately: do not expect updates every other day with any sort of regularity. I promised several reviewers I would update as soon as chapter 3 was written however, and then I went on a writing spree until one in the morning last night and pounded out 3 and 4. So you guys get an update. Thank-you for the spectacular response to this story, and I hope you enjoy:**

**Two. Little Lion Man**

"_Weep for yourself my man you'll never be what is in your heart. Weep little lion man you're not as brave as you were at the start." ~Little Lion Man, Mumford and Sons_

Bonnie Bennett had become used to saving her friends in the last two years. She was the witch, the one with all the mystical answers. She was the one who saved, but never needed saving.

Until Shane and Expression had entered her life.

She had almost died the night of the final sacrifice. Stefan had told her all about it. She had been so overcome by her grief for Jeremy and Silas' promise of his safe return that she had let herself be consumed by Expression. She had attacked her own father. She had planned on killing a dozen witches. Those dozen witches _would_ have killed her.

Except for Caroline.

Bonnie knew that Caroline was a great friend. In fact, the blonde's loyalty had only increased with her turning, and Bonnie had realized that on an intellectual level, but she had never really acknowledged it. Despite her best efforts to give Caroline credit, a large part of Bonnie had still viewed her as the rather shallow, neurotic control freak she had known since childhood.

Then Caroline had killed twelve people. For her, Bonnie Bennett. No one made sacrifices for Bonnie. They made them for Elena, and expected Bonnie to make them for Elena, but Bonnie? Never. It had never been required.

But Caroline had. She had killed for Bonnie, even though it had been Bonnie's inability to give up magic that had brought Silas into their lives. Caroline had never looked at it like that. She had just seen a friend in trouble, and so she had saved her. Because that's apparently what Caroline did, even though Bonnie had never given her enough credit to think she would do so.

And now Silas had Caroline, and he was determined to break her of everything good and bright and crazy that made her _Caroline_, all because evil just couldn't stay away from the blonde's brightness.

Exhibit A: Silas.

Exhibit B: standing right next to Bonnie looking harder for answers than anyone else in the room except for perhaps Bonnie herself.

"You won't find anything staring at me, Witch," Klaus remarked idly, flipping through another book with a frown furrowing his brow. Bonnie quickly diverted her eyes at his words, but she couldn't help but glance at him every now and then.

He was evil and horrible and Bonnie would never ever _like_ him… but if he had one redeeming quality, it was that he actually seemed to care about Caroline. No, more than care. He _loved_ Caroline, because no one searched this hard for someone they didn't love. Look at Rebekah, who was half-heartedly looking at a book, but really casting longing glances at Stefan. Or Damon, who had disappeared over an hour ago to parts unknown saying this search was useless and his abilities were better put to finding Katherine and the cure that was the last key to stopping Silas. Neither of them cared for Caroline, not really. But Klaus? Bonnie knew that even when he wasn't looking through grimoires, he was bullying either Stefan or Elena into helping him scour the woods around Mystic Falls for even a hint of a hint of Caroline. More often than not, it was Elena who accompanied him, and that was something that surprised Bonnie. Elena had turned off her humanity, she supposedly didn't care. Yet there she was, biting her lip and scouring a grimoire and ignoring everyone else around her. The fact that she was willing to accompany Klaus without complaint was sign enough for Bonnie that her friend was in there, somewhere, and if they could just get Caroline back, they could get Elena back too.

"There's nothing," Elena said, slamming her grimoire shut. "Silas is like a ghost, or the bogeyman. There's mentions, but no one actually knows anything about him."

Bonnie sighed and set her book aside as well.

"There has to be something. Someone, somewhere has to know something about Silas," she said, tapping her fingers on the pages of the book. She glanced at Klaus. "You're an evil psycho. Where would you take someone to break them?"

"Do you think I haven't tried all those locations, Bonnie?" Klaus growled out irritated. "As for someone know about Silas. There was, until Elena and her late brother decided to kill him. I imagine you may regret Kol's death about now?"

"I don't feel regret these days," Elena snapped back with a shrug. "It's a waste of time, and I don't like wastes of time anymore."

"Arguing isn't going to find Caroline," Stefan interrupted before Klaus could flash forward and sever Elena's neck, as Bonnie was pretty sure he wanted to.

"Neither is this," Rebekah pointed out, motioning at the tables full of books. "We need more to go on, and we don't have it. Nik, you still have contacts on Bourbon Street, don't you? Maybe it's time we contacted them."

"I really hate to involve myself in the goings on of New Orleans these days," Klaus replied with a sigh. "Marcel is so territorial. But you're right, little sister. I do know a witch or two that makes their home there… and I know a little wolf who is just the person to find out what they know."

"Hayley hates Caroline," Elena said, letting herself fall back into an arm chair. "Anything she tells you will probably be a lie."

"I like to believe that she is a little smarter than that," Klaus replied. "If she lies, she knows I'll kill her."

Elena opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the shrill ring of Stefan's cellphone.

"It's Damon," Stefan said, looking at the call display. "Damon, did you find anything?"

_"No, but we have a problem."_

"What more could have possibly gone wrong?" Stefan demanded. "Between the sacrifice, Katherine having the cure, and Caroline going missing, I'm pretty sure we've hit our limit for bad things that can happen."

_"I wish. I went to see Liz, to see if she could get me some information I thought might help me find Katherine. She's gone missing, Stef, and the bodies of at least three of her deputies are scattered across the cop shop. I think Silas has decided to up his game when it comes to torturing Blondie."_

Stefan's throat bobs as he swallows hard, and he hangs up on Damon without another word. His gaze, when he looks at Bonnie, seems almost dazed.

"That's it then," he said and he isn't really looking at Bonnie now, but rather through her. "With Liz, he'll be able to break her."

Bonnie is terrified, because she knows Stefan is right. Caroline and Liz are just barely starting to get to know each other and bond after a life time of purposely pushing each other away. Bonnie knew Caroline mourned the missed opportunities with her father almost as much as she mourned him. Losing Liz will destroy her.

"There has to be something," Elena said, and there is an almost frantic quality to her as she grabs another grimoire and opens it. "We can't just let this happen to Caroline. She can't lose her Mom. Losing your Mom sucks."

"Keep it off, Elena," Klaus said, his voice like ice. "I told you before, you're of no use to us if you're emotional."

"Parents are a rare quality in our group in case you haven't noticed, Klaus," Elena growled, her eyes burning with fire as she glared at the hybrid. "When we lose one, we all mourn."

"I'll compel you if I have to, but either way you'll keep it off and you'll keep a cool head. It's the one thing you're useful for these days. Put it to good use, and go with Stefan to the police station. If Silas took the sheriff, he had to have had some way of transporting her to wherever Caroline is. Find out what he used."

"He could have just run really, really fast," Elena pointed out, but her expression had calmed and was once more devoid of emotion. "He is an immortal after all."

"That would have drawn attention he wouldn't want," Rebekah replied. "If Silas is smart, and he must be smart to have eluded all of us like this, then he'll have used a vehicle. Something that's not flashy and that won't draw attention."

"Rebekah is right. Silas won't want to draw too much attention. He'll be using more human modes of transport when he can. Find out what that transport is," Klaus ordered.

"What will you be doing while we're searching for Liz?" Elena asked.

"I'll be making a few calls. We are going to find Caroline, Elena. I refuse to settle for the alternative."

Elena frowned at Klaus, but gave a small nod.

"Fine. Stefan and I will go," she agreed as she grabbed her coat. She paused at the door and smirked back. "Glad to see that the S.S. Klaroline sails on."

Bonnie raised her brows in confusion, but Klaus just muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes and Stefan directed Elena out.

"Elena has apparently decided that she needs to _ship_ people in order to make her emotionless life complete," Rebekah explained, seeing Bonnie's confused expression. "She flutters between wanting Stefan with Caroline and Klaus with Caroline as much as she did between the Salvatore brothers before. I guess she's simply incapable of making a choice and sticking with it."

Bonnie was pretty sure that was her cue to step in and defend her friend. She loved Elena, and she shouldn't let some blonde vampire bitch mock her… but she couldn't help but snort out a laugh. Rebekah shot her a look of surprise, and then gave her a small smile. Bonnie returned it, then turned back to her books.

"Has anyone talked to Matt?" she asked after five minutes of silence had passed. "He'd want to know that Caroline was missing."

"I doubt the quarterback will be of assistance," Klaus replied as he hung up his phone, done with whoever he had been murmuring to.

"I'm not saying he'd have answers," Bonnie replied. "I'm just saying he should know. Care is his friend, too. And now that Tyler is gone… well, they need each other."

Klaus rolled his eyes and dialled another number, obviously deciding the conversation wasn't worth his time.

"I'll call him," Rebekah offered, pulling out her phone. "You're right, he should know."

Bonnie smiled her thanks, and the room lapsed back into silence, except for Klaus' murmuring and the faint ringing Bonnie could hear coming from Rebekah's phone. Bonnie frowned when she heard it go to Matt's voicemail.

"Is Matt working today?" Rebekah asked, hanging up.

"No," Bonnie replied, and an ominous feeling began to rise in her.

Surely it was nothing. Matt was forever forgetting his phone, anyways. And maybe he just didn't feel like talking to Rebekah.

"Let me try," Bonnie said, and she dialled Matt's number.

_Ring._

_ Ring._

_ Ring._

_ Hey, this is Matt. I can't come to the phone, leave a message!_

"He never remembers to charge it," Bonnie said, looking at Rebekah. "It's probably dead. Or he forgot it."

"Of course. Or Silas has him as well. I'm going to go and check his house."

Rebekah flashed out, leaving Bonnie and Klaus alone. Klaus frowned down at his phone, then looked at Bonnie. After a moment of staring at each other, he dialled another number.

"Brother, we need you in Mystic Falls…"

STILL-DOLL

It was a new day.

Caroline was terrified to discover what it held. Silas' words had been haunting her the whole night.

"You're up now? That's good. I thought I might have to waken my Sleeping Beauty in the old fashioned way."

Caroline glared at Silas and remained resolutely silent. Perhaps, she thought, if she ignored him, he would disappear. Like the Bogeyman. If you don't acknowledge his existence, then it isn't real.

"That's a sweet thought, but untrue, Caroline," Silas gripped Caroline's chin and tipped it so that she looked up into his face. "I'm no bogeyman, as Rebekah Mikaelson thought. I am real. I feel. I want. And I want you. This is your last chance, Caroline. Give into me."

"You'll never break me," Caroline hissed. "None of this broke me before. It won't break me now."

"I know," Silas agreed. "Oh, I'm sure I could break you this way eventually. But I find that I am impatient after two thousand years of captivity. I don't want to wait the time it would take to break you with your memories. So we'll make new memories. Together. And these ones _will_ break you, Caroline. And then we'll be ready to start."

Silas released his grip and walked back to the entrance to Caroline's cell. He murmured to someone outside, and then came walking back in, followed by someone very familiar to Caroline.

It was Elizabeth Forbes. Her eyes were empty, though. They had the familiar, vacant look that a human's eyes took when they were compelled. She stopped just inside and to the left of the cell entrance and stared at Silas, waiting for his next order.

Caroline began to fight against the chains that held her down.

"She was on vervain, so it made controlling her a little more difficult, but luckily for us, I'm not a normal vampire. She is your humanity. She keeps you tied to the girl you once were. We will break those ties. Now, who should be the one to do the honours? Maybe Elena?" Silas stood, becoming Elena as he moved. "She already wanted to kill Elizabeth once. Perhaps we should let her?"

Silas-Elena walked behind Caroline's chair, and when he appeared again he looked like Tyler.

"Or maybe Tyler, the boy you love so much? Would that destroy you, Care? If I killed your mom the way Klaus killed mine. It would be a sweet sort of justice, considering that you fought so hard to save his life."

"It won't work," Caroline growled. "You can take the face of whoever you want, but it won't change that it's you killing her, and I'll know that. I'll know it to my bones. And even if it breaks me, it will completely alienate me from you."

"Perhaps," Silas agreed, taking his own form once more. "So, maybe I should take the steps to make sure that it is one of your loved ones that kill her. I know witches, Caroline, who want to channel Expression. And they'll do anything for me for that chance." Silas once again walked behind Caroline's chair and placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing at knots that had formed their over the days of torture and tension. "Including kidnapping poor, hapless human boys."

A tall blonde man and a slender brunette female entered, with a bound and gagged Matt Donovan between them. They tossed him to the floor, and left without a word or any other sort of acknowledgement of Caroline.

"Leave the room, Liz. Come in, and play out our little scene just as I ordered when you hear the keywords." Silas's hands briefly tightened on Caroline's shoulders. "I wonder, Caroline, if Matthew is as strong as you." Silas moved away from Caroline, and when he knelt next to Matt he had taken on the form of Vicky. As he shook Matt, Liz left the cell. "Matty, Matty you gotta wake up for me."

"Huh… what? Vicky? What's going on? How are you here? Bonnie closed off the path to the other world. You can't be here," Matt said, sitting up.

"That's not Vicky, Matt!" Caroline screeched. "It's Silas! Get away from him."

But Matt didn't respond, he didn't even acknowledge Caroline's presence, and Vicky-Silas smirked at her over Matt's shoulder.

"It's Silas, Matty. He's brought down the barriers again. He's bad news, Matty. You've got to stop him."

"Crap. We'll get out of here, Vick. We'll go to Bonnie. She can help us."

"It's too late for that, Matty. You have to kill him now," Vicky-Silas replied frantically. "He's limited right now, weak. You can kill him with this."

Vicky held out a stake, and Matt took it in his hands. At the same time, Liz came barging back into the room.

"What's going on?"

"Liz!" Matt said breathlessly. "Thank God you're here! Vicky says that Silas is bringing down the barriers between worlds. We need help."

A smirk crossed Liz's lips, and it was so unlike Liz, that there was a very, very small part of Caroline that couldn't blame Matt for what happened next.

"That's not Liz, Matty," Vicky-Silas whispered. "That's Silas. He's taken on her form, so he can control the town. Liz is dead, Matt. She has been for a while."

"No," Matt replied, shaking his head in denial. "Not Liz. Care would never come back from that."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Liz asked, her voice oddly cold and empty. "Poor little orpaned Caroline."

"You bastard!" Matt yelled. "What did Caroline and Liz ever do to you?"

"Nothing," Liz shrugged. "Just collateral damage."

With a wordless yell, Matt stood and ran, jamming the stake hard into Liz's chest, straight into her heart. Liz gave a shocked gasp, and her hands grabbed the stake. Caroline could see the minute that Silas' compellment left her, and the life briefly entered her eyes again, just long enough for her to look at Caroline and realize what had happened. For a split second, there was heartbreak in Liz's eyes, before the life left them all together.

"No!" Caroline screamed, but the sound of it was cracked and inhuman and she was on Matt before she even really realized that the chains that had held her for the past several days had released her.

"Care," Matt said in shock as he fell under Caroline's weight. "What?"

"That was my mom," Caroline moaned, pained and broken, and she vaguely saw horror enter Matt's eyes before her fangs tore brutally into his throat. Matt had taken her mother, so Caroline would take Matt's life.

When Caroline's sanity caught up to her and reminded her that it wasn't Matt's fault, that he had been tricked by Silas, it was too late. Caroline had already drained the quarterback, the blood staining her front proof of her crime. Caroline shoved herself back from Matt frantically, and the motion pushed her into Liz's still body, and Caroline jolted away from that with horror.

"Mommy…" she whispered brokenly, reaching out and touching the tips of Liz's short blonde hair. Liz's eyes were still open and staring emptily at Caroline, and in those eyes, Caroline could see her reflection. She wore Matt's blood smeared across her mouth and down her front. It stained her hair, and her eyes were the red-black of a vampire. Never before had Caroline looked more like a monster.

Never before had Caroline felt more like a monster.

"What have I done?" she whispered, and she looked to Silas for the answer, because there was no one else there, and Caroline needed someone, anyone, to help her make sense of what her life had just become.

"You killed Matt," Silas replied. "Matt who thought he was saving everyone."

"I killed him," Caroline whimpered, and she felt her stomach clench in agony. "I killed him. I killed him. I killed him."

She began to rock back and forth, and Caroline didn't know who to mourn. Her mother, the mother that she had only just begun to get close to. Or Matt? The first boy she had ever really loved. Matt, who had always been so steadfast, loyal and true.

"It's okay, Caroline," Silas whispered, sitting down and pulling her into his arms, stroking her hair as she stared with wide eyes between Matt and Liz, as if trying to make sense of the horror before her. "It's okay. You can turn it off now."

Caroline wanted to scream and shout and rebel, and say that he would never break her. Only it would be a lie. Because Liz was dead, and Caroline had just killed Matt, and there was nothing left in her to fight him with but a pile of fractured pieces that would never be whole again.

"I hate you," Caroline whispered, putting all the emotion she had left into those three words.

"I know. I am sorry it had to happen this way."

The odd thing was, Caroline thought he might be telling the truth. In his own sick, twisted way, Silas had never wanted this. He had wanted her broken, but not like this.

Caroline had, to his way of thinking, left him no other choice.

Caroline stared at the dead bodies in front of her. The mother she loved so much, and the boy who had made her feel wanted for the first time in her life. They were dead, and with them went Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls.

"You win," she whispered.

And then she turned it off.

**AN: So… yeah… Silas is a bastard? I had to think of something that would push Caroline over the proverbial cliff edge. Killing Liz didn't seem like quite enough on its own, but having Matt kill Liz and then Caroline kill Matt? It seemed a little better.**

**If anyone looks at this as out of character, I will point you to 4x16 right after Elena attacked Liz. Caroline was totally going for Elena's throat, but Stefan held her back. In this story, not only did no one hold her back, but Silas actually released her chains so that Caroline would be completely free to act on impulse. And that impulse was to avenge her mother. I don't see it as being out of character, because it was done in the heat of the moment right after Liz's death. Had Caroline been allowed any cool down time, she probably wouldn't have done it, but she was given free rein to attack Matt right after he shoved in the stake. So the above happened.**

**Once again, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed (or just read). The response has been great, and I hope you enjoy this as well.**


	4. Standing Still

**AN: The response to this fic amazes me. I'm glad you're enjoying it. This is a bit of a filler chapter, but Caroline needs time to adjust. Then it will be fun.**

**Three. Standing Still**

"_I feel broken down." ~Standing Still, Jewel_

Caroline sat in the warmth of Silas' arms, simply staring at the dead bodies that still lie on the floor. There was Matt, throat torn out, blue eyes not seeing anything. He would never smile again, or throw another football. His days of pining for Elena were done.

Then there was Liz. Caroline had never noticed how… _small_ her mother was before. Liz had always worn authority like a coat, and it had made her seem so much bigger than she really was. Larger than life. Now that the life was gone from her, Caroline realized for the first time just how petite her mother was. Almost delicate, even.

They were vague, uninterested observations. The observations of Caroline-after-switch-flip, Caroline who felt separate from all this now. The Caroline who felt utterly empty. Was this how Elena had felt? As if she was cut off from reality, floating in a stasis where she knew _what_ she should be feeling, but it would take too much effort to feel that way?

Or was Caroline simply too broken to even turn off her humanity right?

"Let go of me," she said to Silas, and even her voice sounded empty. Caroline reached up and pulled Silas' arms away from her, not waiting to see if he would obey her command to release him or not. "I'll need new clothes. I can't walk around covered in Matt's blood."

"Of course. I have them for you already. I've had a productive morning."

The smirk on Silas' face was victorious as he wrapped on of Caroline's blonde curls around his finger. Caroline frowned at him, remembering when another monster had done that just days before, only now that she had turned it off, Klaus didn't seem nearly as monstrous anymore. In fact, Caroline could actually see the logic in most of his actions.

Except for his pursuit of her. That still didn't make any sense, and Caroline didn't have it in her to try and reason out the Hybrid's motives.

She had graves to dig.

"Did you bring a shovel, as well?" Caroline asked Silas.

"No, we don't need one," Silas replied carelessly. "Now that you're ready for phase two, we can leave this place. Let your friends deal with the bodies."

Something in Caroline rebelled against that, the thought of simply leaving Liz and Matt here to rot until someone happened to find them. Liz was her mother, Matt the first boy she loved. Those were important things, right? They deserved at least a burial.

"I've removed the spelled barriers that have protected our location. Bonnie will find them with a location spell, and they'll get a proper burial. They served a greater purpose, and for that they deserve more than an unmarked grave in the forest. Come, Caroline. We have to go."

"What if I don't?" Caroline asked. "What if I stay here, go with my friends. That will ruin your plans, won't it?"

"And tell them what? How you killed Matt? How you turned off your humanity? You remember how Bonnie was after you were turned. How long do you think she'll stand by you after she realizes you're no longer the girl she once loved? And Damon has already shown time and again that you're only useful until you're not, and then you're dead. He cares for Elena, not you. Do you really think he'll take the time to try and fix you as they are with Miss Gilbert? Or will he just kill you? You've killed one of them now, Caroline. And not just one of them, but a human one of them. There is no going back for you. Just going forward. And I'm all that's in your future."

Caroline looked back at Matt. Matt, over whose eyes all the girls had swooned. It was true, they had always put more importance on human life than vampire life, and now that Matt was dead by Caroline's hands, she would be an enemy. After all, she hadn't turned off her humanity yet when it had occurred. She had just been a girl who was heartbroken over watching her mother die in front of her.

"You're good," Caroline mused, looking at Silas. "You've studied us. You know our weak points, our strong points. You're right, I can't go back to my friends. But I can go to Klaus. He won't care what I've done, because he'll have done wore."

Silas flashed in front of Caroline and grabbed her throat, lifting her off the ground. Caroline had experienced the strength of the Originals, Klaus in particular, and a thrill of fear managed to push its way into the emptiness Caroline felt and lodge itself there and she realized how much stronger Silas was than the Original Hybrid.

"He was attracted to your light," Silas said. "And that has dimmed to the point of non-existence. But if you're so determined to go to him, then I'll extinguish him completely. I'll remove everything of the Caroline he loved from you, and then you'll have no choice but me. You're really too stubborn for your own good, Caroline."

And with a crack, Caroline's world went black.

STILL-DOLL

Bonnie had successfully located Liz Forbes.

She had been alternating between doing a location spell on Liz and Matt for at least two hours, when finally it had succeeded. They were in old catacombs on Fell land that Klaus swore he had searched up and down, but had left empty handed.

"Silas can change reality," Bonnie said. "It's how he can appear as people's loved ones. If he can do that, what's to say he can't make a cave look empty when it's not?"

"Because he would have to be able to fool _me_," Klaus growled in reply. "He would have to be able to use his powers to make me believe the caves were empty!"

"He had me utterly convinced he was my Grams on the island," Bonnie interjected. "He even _smelled _like her, Klaus. Silas' illusions are very, very good."

"It's not like this would be the first time he fooled you, brother," said Rebekah, who had returned earlier after discovering that Matt was nowhere to be found. "He had you convinced that he was Caroline for a while, didn't he? And if anyone can recognize Caroline, it's you. God knows you have enough drawings of her."

That was sort of creepy, Bonnie thought to herself as she followed the siblings to the SUV they would take to the caves. It was sort of creepy that Klaus was so obsessed with Caroline that he drew pictures of her, even when she was still in love with Tyler and tried her best to ignore Klaus unless she was playing bait.

Then again, Caroline had always attracted the dark and broken. It was just who she was.

"Why don't we just run?" Rebekah asked as Klaus began the drive through the forest.

"Not all of us can outrun Speedy Gonzales, Rebekah," Bonnie replied with a huff. "Unless of course you're volunteering to give me a piggy back? In which case, I'd have to refuse."

"Be careful, Bonnie," Klaus warned. "I haven't forgotten who is responsible for Kol's death and my imprisonment. Right now, you're useful for finding Caroline. You are alive because you're of more use to me that way than you are dead. I can change my mind."

"At some point, you're going to have to stop that," Bonnie stated. "Threatening to kill us all of the time. Caroline would never forgive you, and right now I think that she's more important to you than revenge." Bonnie crossed her arms and met Klaus' eyes in the rear view mirror. "We all want the same thing right now. We want Caroline safe."

"Yes, you lot would certainly hate to lose your Klaus bait, wouldn't you?" Rebekah cut in scathingly. Klaus shot her a dark look, and Rebekah glared right back. "Really, Nik, I may not like the girl, but I can see how this lot uses her. They never consider that, if you cared for her a little less, you would have killed her long ago. They just keep sending her into a wolf's den and never care what might happen to her as long as it keeps precious Elena safe at the end."

"That's not true," Bonnie interjected. "I love Care. She's my best friend. Stefan loves her too, and Elena, when she's able to love. Caroline is just… she's always so in control. It never seems as if we have to worry about her, because she's always the strong one." Bonnie rubbed her arms and looked out the window. "I don't know what we'll do, if that's gone. If she can't be the strong one anymore."

Neither Original sibling replies, but Bonnie feels that they both have plenty to say on the subject, none of it kind toward Caroline's friends.

STILL-DOLL

Rebekah smelled the blood before they ever entered the caves. A quick glance at Nik told her that he smelled it as well. It is thick in the air, but at least an hour old, making it unappealing to Rebekah's ancient senses, much like the blood bags that Caroline swears by.

"You may want to stay here," Nik said to Bonnie, and Rebekah shot him a surprised glance. Nik never tries to make others feel comfortable, not unless it's Caroline, and that he is making such an effort for Bonnie Bennett surprises Rebekah more than she can say.

Then the scent of blood begins to differentiate itself, and Rebekah can tell who it belongs to, and Nik's attempt at kindness makes more sense.

It is not just Elizabeth Forbes who has found her end inside these caves, but Matthew Donovan as well.

Rebekah has to fight back a sob. Matt was the first human in this town to show her kindness, _real_ kindness, not the fake kind that Elena had shown before shoving a dagger into her back. He was bright, promising beacon in an otherwise miserable town, and now he is dead because he was a loyal friend who got caught up in the supernatural despite his better judgement.

Bonnie looked between Rebekah and Nik, and her brow furrowed

"What is it?" she asked. "What do you know that I don't?"

"You'll want to stay out here, Bonnie," Rebekah said, her voice far kinder than it had ever been when addressing the witch. But Rebekah can feel sympathy, and while she hates that the whole lot of these teenagers killed two of her brothers, she also realized that the loss of Matt so soon after Jeremy Gilbert's death will destroy them.

"It's Liz, isn't it?" Bonnie asked. "She's in there, dead, and you two are actually… are you guys trying to be _kind_?" Bonnie's voice is shocked, but she shakes her head. "Now isn't the time for a personality transplant. If… If Liz is in there, we need to see if there's anything we can-can do. And then we need to take care of a burial. Caroline would be heartbroken if Liz didn't get a proper burial."

"It's not just Liz, Bonnie," Rebekah said, reaching out and grasping Bonnie's wrist when the witch tried to push her way between the siblings. "I… there's more. Liz isn't the only one back there. It's…"

"Matt," Bonnie breathed, her brown eyes widening with horror. "Oh God, Matt!"

Bonnie wrenched her wrist away from Rebekah and ran into the caves. It didn't take her long to find the massacre. Rebekah imagined that, even with a human's weak sense of smell, the scent of blood had become overwhelming shortly after entering the cave. Rebekah followed the broken sound of Bonnie's sobs with Nik at her side, and the pair found the witch kneeling between the bodies of Liz Forbes and Matt, her hands clutching at one of each of theirs.

It was horrible, even to Rebekah. There was a stake shoved into Liz's heart, and Matt's throat had been completely mangled. Rebekah couldn't even begin to imagine the circumstances that had led to the conclusion she saw before her, and her heart broke for Caroline when her eyes drifted to the chains attached to a chair and Rebekah realized that the other blonde must have played witness to the scene in front of them.

"I can smell Caroline," Nik said, sniffing at the air. "They couldn't be gone a half hour. I…"

Nik looked helplessly at the body of Liz Forbes, and Rebekah realized that her big brother, who usually at least thought he had all the answers, was at a loss. Did he go after the girl he loved, or stay to take care of her mother's body, as Caroline would surely want him to?

"Go after her," Rebekah said to him. "Bonnie and I can take care of this. Bonnie will have a better idea of what they would want done anyways."

Nik shot Rebekah a brief, thankful look, something he had never done before, and then he was gone. Rebekah stepped into the cave and walked slowly to Bonnie, who was still sobbing between the bodies. Rebekah knelt down and laid her hand over the witch's shoulder.

"Bonnie, we have to take care of this. It's what they would want us to do, and I need your help. Can you do that?" Rebekah asked, her voice as soft as it had ever been when speaking to one of the Mystic Falls Scooby Gang.

"Care saw this happen, Rebekah," Bonnie said, looking up at the blonde with tear filled eyes. "She saw her mom die, and Matt, and what kind of monster would do this to her? To us? What did Liz and Matt ever do to deserve this? What did _Caroline_ ever do to deserve this?"

"Nothing," Rebekah replied firmly. "They did absolutely nothing. Caroline was herself, and when Caroline is herself she draws in the darkest souls that the world has to offer. She didn't deserve this, but you have to be strong. Because she won't be, Bonnie. I can guarantee you, this will have broken her. When Caroline returns, there will be nothing of her left. So you will have to be strong while she can't be. And you'll have to bury her mother, and Matt, because Caroline can't. Help me with this."

Bonnie looked away, back at the bodies. She reached out with shaking fingers and closed first Liz's eyes, and then Matt's. Then she stood, and her back was rigid, and her eyes were still filled with tears, but also determination to be strong for those that remained.

"We need to call my dad."

STILL-DOLL

Caroline didn't know where she was when she awoke, but it seemed pretty shady.

"Please tell me we are not in some cheap motel room that charges by the hour," she groaned as she sat up in the bed. The only bed the room had to offer.

"It doesn't charge by the hour," Silas replied, from where he had been watching her in the single arm chair the room boasted.

"That's creepy. You're creepy," Caroline muttered, but her heart wasn't in it.

The events of the last few hours were catching up with her.

Liz was dead.

Caroline had killed Matt.

And now, Caroline floated in a sea of emptiness. Caroline couldn't understand the appeal of this, of not having any emotions. Elena had made it seem so fun, but Caroline didn't see how anyone could have fun like this. Feeling anything, even something as superficial as fun, just seemed like too much work. All Caroline could feel was empty and fractured and so very, very tired.

"I think my switch is broken," Caroline said to Silas. She didn't particularly want to talk to Silas, but there was no one else, and speaking out loud was better than being inside her own head. "Everyone else makes this seem easy, as if being without humanity is the best thing in the world. Why don't I feel like that?"

Silas leaned back and steepled his fingers together. He had a pianist's hands, Caroline noted vaguely. Long, slender fingers that would be perfect for playing the keys just right. It surprised her, that such a monster would have such elegant hands, but Caroline supposed it shouldn't have. Look at Klaus, who create such beautiful images of her, then turn around and slaughter twelve hybrids and a mayor for revenge.

"I told you, we have only reached phase one of your transformation. You are not meant to feel nothing, Caroline, and so this is your way of grieving, even without your emotions. You'll feel better, once we reach stage two."

"What's stage two?" Caroline asked, but it was really just a way to keep the conversation going, to keep her out of her own head. Caroline didn't really care.

"Anger," Silas replied succinctly.

"Anger at who?" Caroline replied idly. "You for destroying everything I was?"

"No, anger at your friends for caring more for Elena than for you. Anger at Bonnie for letting me manipulate her so that you had to kill twelve people in your name. Anger at Klaus for driving away Tyler, and anger at Tyler for letting it happen," Silas leaned forward so his arms were braced on his knees. "And I suppose anger at me as well. You have so much to be angry for, Caroline. Let that anger out, and together we will paint the world red."

"You don't know me very well," Caroline responded, still feeling empty. "I'm always the expendable one. I've known that since the start. Why should I get angry over that now?"

"Because now, you have someone to show you that you should be a queen."

Caroline met Silas' grey eyes with her own blue ones. Once upon a time, those words from such an attractive man would have made her swoon. Back when she was foolish, naïve, human Caroline, she would have been putty in Silas' hands.

Now, Caroline simply felt done.

"I'm no queen."

**AN: And so Caroline is just kind of numb and Klaus (in all his evil glory) totally predicted what happened in that cave. **

**The response to Shipper!Elena has been amazing. I'm considering writing one shots surrounding her and her ship stalking just because it would be fun and pure crack fic. Let me know what you think about the idea and, of course, this chapter. I love to hear your thoughts!**


	5. Broken Crown

**AN: Here's another chapter for your reading pleasure. Once again inspired by Mumford & Sons. If that band hasn't rocked your world yet, you need to look them up. Because they should be.**

**Four. Broken Crown**

"_So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down, I'll never wear your broken crown." ~Broken Crown, Mumford & Sons_

Rebekah had been right about Silas owning a vehicle.

Klaus managed to follow Caroline's scent for about two miles before it simply disappeared, replaced by the stench of rubber and remains of tire tracks from a vehicle doing a burn out. Klaus tried to follow the scent of rubber, but it only took him to the highway before even that disappeared.

For a man who had been unconscious for two millennia, Silas was doing an excellent job of using modern conveniences to keep his tracks hidden from vampires.

Klaus had been forced to return to the catacombs empty handed. When he got there, he was greeted by the sight of the Mayor and his undead ex-wife confronting Bonnie and Rebekah.

"I told you Expression is dangerous!" Abby thundered. "But you were too addicted to listen!"

"I know, Mom!" Bonnie yelled back, and her breath caught on a sob. "I know. Don't you think I know that I messed up? Jeremy is dead, Liz is dead, Matt is dead, and Caroline is AWOL in the hands of the bad guy, so trust me, I know. You can't possibly make me feel any worse than I already do."

"And the twelve witches you killed for Silas? I notice that they don't make your list," Abby pointed out, her voice cold.

"That would be because Bonnie didn't kill them," Klaus interjected coolly, making his presence known. Both Rudy and Abby stiffened when they realized another Original was present, and Klaus sauntered towards the group. "It turns out that your daughter does actually have friends that put her life above all others. Caroline killed the witches to save Bonnie."

Abby looks shocked at this news, and torn. Should she be thankful Bonnie lived, or upset with Caroline that she killed twelve witches to keep Bonnie that way?

"You didn't find her," Bonnie said, her eyes looking almost defeated. "If you can't track her, then how are we ever supposed to find her? Silas is the freaking bogeyman who can wear anyone's face, and as long as Caroline is with him she might as well be a bogeyman too."

"Did she kill Matt Donovan?" Rudy asked, trying to take control of the situation. "Caroline, I mean?"

"Why would you even think that?" Bonnie demanded, glaring at her father. "Matt was the first boy Caroline ever really loved. She would never hurt him!"

"I don't know," Klaus said, over top of Bonnie's angry rant. Bonnie stopped and stared at him in shock. "We weren't there, witch, we don't know what happened. All we know is that Silas can make his victims see whatever he wishes, and that Elizabeth Forbes died from a stake to the chest whereas Matt was, quite clearly, attacked by a vampire."

"You think it was Caroline," Rebekah whispered, her eyes widening with surprise. "But why? Why would she kill Matt?"

"If you watched someone kill your mother in front of your very eyes, wouldn't you wish them dead? You wished it for me, no matter how briefly, after you found out I killed Esther, and that was one thousand years after the fact, Bekah. What better way to break Caroline than to take everything from her in one stroke? Liz was all the family she had left, and I doubt that Bonnie here will ever look at Caroline the same way if my theory turns out to be true. Unless you're going to surprise me, witch, and actually see the world as more than simple black and white," Klaus sneered the last at Bonnie, not suspecting much from the self-righteous witch.

"I would have killed those twelve witches if Caroline hadn't, just to bring Jeremy back. I've gone against the sprits time and again to keep the people I love alive. I was willing to watch every vampire in Mystic Falls die once because my Grams was killed helping one." Bonnie's eyes were locked on the black body bags that held Liz and Matt as she spoke, but her eyes turned to Klaus' as she finished, a fierce light inside of them. "I made the mistake of turning my back on Caroline because she was a vampire once, and she was still there for me every time I needed her despite that. Bring her back to us Klaus. Let me prove to her that at least one of us is still here for her."

Klaus was surprised by the strength in the witch's voice. He actually believed the tiny little Bennett.

"She won't be the same girl she was before," he warned her, feeling the need to stress that Caroline wouldn't immediately be the bright sunshine girl they'd all known. "I've seen people break; I've broken many of them myself. It's messy, and dark, and more often than not it's a path from which you never return. Caroline may never be the girl you once knew ever again. Can you love her anyways?"

Bonnie took in Klaus' words and weighed them, then she gave him a searching look.

"Can you?"

Damon had been handling Elena with kid gloves ever since the news had come in that Liz and Matt were dead, and Caroline still missing. He acted as if she might implode at any moment.

It drove Elena a little bit insane, and for the first time since she had been turned, Elena could actually appreciate Stefan more than his brother. Stefan had given her one look, decided that she'd be okay, and then once more thrown himself fully into the search for Caroline.

That was what they all needed to do, and yet Damon acted as if _Elena_ was the one to worry about.

"I'm not the one who is experiencing psychological torture, Damon," Elena snapped, slamming a glass onto the counter and pouring scotch into it. "My humanity switch is flicked firmly to off. Try worrying about someone else for a while. Like Caroline."

"Blondie will be fine," Damon replied with a wave of his hand. "She always is."

Elena snorted at that and tossed back the scotch. It burned on the way down and made her eyes water, but Elena welcomed the sensation. The longer she kept her humanity off, the more she welcomed anything that made her feel something other than… _nothing._

"She won't be this time," Bonnie replied from where she sat on the couch across the room. Klaus and Rebekah had dropped the witch off when they came to deliver the news of what had been in the catacombs, before they took off once more with Stefan. Bonnie had been unusually quiet ever since. Elena knew what it was like, to see the bodies of your dead loved ones. She could almost sympathize with Bonnie, if she could feel anything. "If Klaus' theory is right, I don't think that Caroline will be okay ever again."

"And what is Klaus' theory, Sabrina?" Damon asked, pulling out the file of Katherine's identities that he had found in New York. "My least favorite Original didn't say much beyond _watch the witch_ and _they're dead_."

"He thinks Care might have killed Matt," Bonnie explained, looking at Elena as she spoke and completely ignoring Damon. "After she watched Matt kill Liz under Silas' influence."

"It would make sense," Elena mused, looking at the situation from a cold, distant perspective. "She was ready to shove a stake into me after I attacked Liz, and the sheriff hardly even had a scratch. Plus, if Silas really wants to break Care, what better way? I don't get why Care would just leave with him after he was the catalyst for it all though. That doesn't make sense."

"Why wouldn't she, Elena?" Bonnie asked, her voice helpless. "Why would she think for a second that we would support her after she killed Matt? I nearly cut her off when she was first turned for killing a complete stranger when she had no idea what was going on. You slept with the guy that abused her for weeks and then took his side when Caroline said she didn't like him. Stefan and Damon have always had your back, and the rest of us were expendable, and Tyler's gone. Really, why would she think that we would welcome back Matt's murderer, no matter what circumstances the death occurred under?"

Bonnie words made Elena pause. She had never considered her relationship with Damon from Caroline's point of view. She had always been full of too much emotion, rushing head long into whatever might come, or feeling guilty about what Stefan must be feeling. Now that Elena could push all that aside, she supposed she could understand why Caroline might be unhappy with their relationship.

"You really were a douchebag to her, weren't you?" she asked Damon. The words weren't judgemental, more just a statement of facts that Elena had never considered before, but Damon still looked away with guilt.

"Blondie knows I didn't mean any of that," he said. "I was just in a bad place."

"You were an ass," Bonnie replied scathingly. "And you're still an ass who's more worried about finding Katherine and the cure for Elena than helping us find Caroline, who knows a lot about us, by the way, and could give Silas information he needs to kill us all. In case you need a reason beside the fact that it's Caroline, and she's always fought for all of us, even you."

"Plus, I don't want the cure," Elena added with a smirk. "So really, you're just wasting everybody's time. Especially your own, since Katherine is possibly even more difficult to find than Silas."

"Did it ever occur to either of you that I am looking for Katherine and the cure _for_ Caroline?" Damon muttered, leaning over the folder once more.

Bonnie and Elena looked at each other with almost identical frowns.

"Nope."

"Definitely not."

"Well I am!" Damon replied defensively. "Look, Silas is older than even our friendly neighborhood Originals, and Vaughn spent most of our time together on the island telling me all about how the cure is the only way to kill Silas. If he is anywhere near as obsessive as Klaus, he won't give Caroline up without a fight. That means we need to kill him. The cure equals killing him. We shove it down his throat, and that's it. Blondie is free."

Bonnie stared at Damon in shock, and Elena sat down, feeling something close to shock herself.

"Wow," she muttered. "So, you're seriously not trying to give me the cure anymore? You're actually doing something for Caroline?"

"I put her through hell," Damon muttered. "And she still revealed herself to Liz to save me, and Stefan, but me as well. I'd rather give the cure to you, because without your emotions you're a cold, hard bitch, but I figure Silas is more dangerous, and if we lose Caroline, then even giving you back your humanity won't fix you, so… we'll kill Silas, get Caroline back, and maybe the two of you can work on fixing each other."

"I don't need to be fixed," Elena replied heatedly. "I'm happy the way I am!"

"You say that now," Damon replied, not removing his eyes from the folder. "But even Katherine had to let the humanity in every once in a while."

"I'm. Not. Katherine!" Elena hissed, and then she stalked away.

She would find a use for herself somewhere else.

Silas was right.

Phase two _was_ anger.

But Caroline didn't think it was the anger he wanted. She didn't want to suddenly go and kill her friends and paint her home town red. Matt was dead, and nothing would bring him back. Her friends had every right to hate her for that. They had already lost too many loved ones.

No, Caroline was angry with herself.

What was it about her that always brought forth only the worst? Damon had strolled into her life, and then left her with covered with scars and haunted by a multitude of self-esteem issues that not even becoming a vampire could heal. Her father had come back into her life to torture the monster out of her, and then died rather than become what she was. He could give her all the pretty words he wanted, but it was cold comfort when he was dead. Stefan had strolled into her life and called her his Lexi-replacement, but he always abandoned her the second Elena was in need. Alaric had seen her as an easy target and used her words, words meant to comfort _him_ against her. Katherine had also viewed her as an easy target, easy and expendable as soon as she was sacrificed for Klaus.

And there was Klaus. Klaus who killed Jenna, Carol, hundreds of innocent people, then turned around and told her she was beautiful and full of light, and made Caroline want to believe in redemption. Because he did love her, even if it was in a kind of twisted way, and if you could love, you could be saved, right?

Only Silas had loved once, but there was no saving him. He was a broken, twisted shell of a man, and he was determined to remake Caroline in his image. If he had his way, she would be broken and twisted, too. His dark queen.

And Caroline had let him break her.

Caroline had let him manipulate her into killing Matt, and then she had let him manipulate her into believe she had nowhere else to go.

So yes, Caroline was mad. Caroline was mad that she had let him shove her into that abyss. But Caroline was thinking clearer now. Her humanity was firmly shut off, and if Caroline still felt a little empty, the anger had at least removed the listlessness. Caroline was tired of being used and abused and waiting to be saved. It was time for her to save herself.

"Good morning, Caroline. Ah, I see the fire is back in your eyes. Is it time to proceed to phase two, then?" Silas asked as he entered the room. He carried a cooler, and he pulled two bags of blood out of it and tossed one to Caroline, before tearing into the other himself.

"You haven't explained what phase two is, beyond my feeling anger," Caroline pointed out, sipping carefully from the blood bag. She had been messy yesterday, with Matt, and could look at it with some level of embarrassment. There was never a good reason for being a sloppy eater.

"Phase two is revenge," Silas replied. "I want to show you what real power feels like. You hold the fate of every person we meet in your hands, and what ultimately happens to them is entirely up to you."

"I thought you wanted to remove all the light Klaus loved so much from me," Caroline said, looking at Silas contemplatively. "This doesn't really sound like a light removing exercise."

"Your light is your humanity," Silas explained. "We're already well on our way to getting rid of it. All you need to do is realize how much more enjoyable having power over everyone is than being powerless. Surely you want that? To never be a victim again? Damon, Alaric, Jules, the hybrids, your father, even Klaus. They've all made you their victim at one point. With my help, you will be more powerful than them all. You'll make them beg for mercy, and then you can refuse to give it to them."

"That will be difficult, considering that all but two of the people on that list are _dead_," Caroline pointed out. "I'd say I'm doing pretty well, thanks."

"But you never got to kill them," Silas explained, tossing his blood bag aside and coming to join Caroline where she was lounged on the bed. He stretched out next to her, facing her on his side and tangled his hand in her hair. "Once I get the cure, we can open the gates and they'll all come back. Then it will be up to you; do they live or do they die? That wolf-bitch Hayley, as well. She slept with Klaus, you know. You can show her what happens to traitorous little whores."

The news of Klaus' indiscretion with Hayley surprised Caroline, but she couldn't say she was entirely shocked. Hayley was attractive, and it's not like Caroline had exactly been hopping up and down, volunteering to scratch Klaus' itch. Perhaps, if her humanity was still around, Caroline would feel some hurt over the matter, but at the moment she was just contemplating Klaus' reaction were she to show up and offer to show him what hot hybrid sex should _really_ be like.

"Hayley isn't a whore," Caroline commented. "This is the twenty-first century. We're trying to eliminate slut-shaming. You're setting our cause back. She's a traitorous bitch I'll agree, but not a whore."

"Who cares what names you call her, her life will be in your hands," Silas tugged her face up to his with her hair. "All the power you could want, Caroline. All you need to do is take it."

Silas pressed his lips to Caroline's. Her first instinct was to shove him away, or bite him again, but logic quickly caught up to instinct and prevented such hasty action. Caroline wanted to get away from Silas, but he was two thousand years old, whereas Caroline was only eighteen, and only one year of that had been spent as a vampire. She couldn't outmuscle Silas, but she could outsmart him.

Caroline knew men. She had enough experience, good and bad, to be confident of that.

"You know, you call Hayley a whore, then you expect me to just fall into bed with you," Caroline said, rolling so that she was on top of Silas, and his shoulders were pressed into the bed. "I'm really not sure what that says about what you think of me."

"I think you're majestic," Silas replied, his hands gripping her hips hard enough that, had Caroline been human, it would have bruised. "You go to my head, Caroline."

"I'm not stupid enough to fall for lines like that," Caroline said with a snort. "And I'm not sleeping with you."

"Perhaps not now, but you will. You'll realize that I can give you what you want, and you'll give in to me."

Silas rolled them so that he was on top, and he pressed his mouth against her neck. Caroline had to admit that, as far as technique went, Silas' was very good. Her body responded to his touch, and Caroline imagined that he could play her like a well-polished fiddle given the opportunity. And she hadn't had sex since Carol had died; things had been tense between her and Tyler in those final days. Caroline almost regretted that she couldn't take advantage of one quick rush of lust with Silas.

Sadly, she had a plan. And it didn't include sex.

"You're good," Caroline admitted. "I could almost give into you. It is very tempting."

"Then do," Silas murmured, leaning down to catch her lips once more, and Caroline let him. She let him explore her mouth with his tongue, and it was a talented tongue, and the whole time her hands creeped up until they were placed just right.

Then, with a quick twist, Caroline snapped the neck of the oldest immortal in known existence.

"What I want, you asshole, is my mom," Caroline snarled as she shoved Silas' dead weight off of her.

To further slowdown Silas's awakening, Caroline broke the leg off the bedside table and shoved it through his chest. As she suspected, it didn't kill him, but she hoped it would slow him down. She dug in his pocket and pulled out her cellphone and a set of keys. Caroline smirked as she left the room and used the keys to find the vehicle Silas had acquired, a simple black Sedan with tinted windows.

It felt good, she decided, this saving herself thing.

Caroline through the car into reverse with one hand and dialled Klaus with the other.

She could save herself, but who didn't like a little help from their friends?

**AN: So, in my AN last chapter I said that Klaus suspected what had happened in the cave… yeah, that was in this chapter. My bad, guys. Spoiler alert?**

**For the few reviewers that have said they kind of ship Caroline/Silas (Carolas? Sioline?), you may have enjoyed the moments leading up to Caroline's escape. Silas is attractive (see prologue for physical description) and would probably be good in bed, but Caroline had a plan, so you just got some making out.**

**Many people kept on leaving me reviews saying that Klaus needed to save Caroline. Well, I planned it all along that Caroline would save herself. Why? Because she needed to. She's been a victim too long. She'll need help coming back from the place she's at, but more than help, she needs her own strength. So in this chapter, Caroline got one over on Silas. Of course, that doesn't mean he's done tormenting her yet, but it does give her a bit of fight.**

**And my comments on Hayley… that's how I feel about it. I dislike Klayley sex, and I dislike Hayley in general and do think she's a bitch, but not a whore. Feel free to agree or disagree as you will.**

**As always, please leave a review. I'm currently working on chapter 6 of this story AND Part II of my other story, **_**Conversations With Myself**_**. It appears six is my unlucky number as there have been many versions of the chapters started and discarded, but I think I'm finally making progress, so yay!**


	6. Little House

**AN: And here it is, the first meeting of Caroline and others post-Silas. **

**Five. Little House**

"_Something's scratching its way out, something you wanna forget about." ~Little House, The Fray_

Klaus, Rebekah and Stefan were just returning to the boarding house, empty handed, when Klaus' phone began to ring. He pulled the phone out and glanced at the ID screen.

_Caroline_.

He paused mid-step and quickly answered the phone.

"Caroline, where are you?" he demanded, foregoing any greeting in favour of the more important questions.

"Driving down the I-75," Caroline replied, and Klaus' stomach sunk at the sound of her voice. Gone was the normal energy that infused everything about her, instead her voice was cold and bleak. "I stole Silas' car. It's nice, all things considered. I killed Matt, Klaus."

"I suspected as much," Klaus replied, meeting Stefan's eye. Both the younger Salvatore and Rebekah were listening closely to the conversation, and Stefan looked ready to take off and meet Caroline on the highway. "Come home, Caroline."

"I have no home. Not anymore," Caroline replied. "Mom is dead. Matt is dead. There's really not a whole lot left for me in Mystic Falls."

"Your friends are here. They're worried about you." _I'm here_, he wanted to add, but he didn't know how Caroline would receive that in her current mood.

"I killed Matt," Caroline repeated, as if Klaus hadn't heard her the first time. "There's nothing left for me there. I need your help."

"Anything," Klaus replied. "Just come back to Mystic Falls and I will give you anything you want."

"That's the first place Silas will look for me. I… I don't want him to find me, Klaus. I need to find Katherine, and I need you to meet me with whatever information Damon got about her location." There was a loud honk on the other end of the line and Klaus heard Caroline curse. "Choose a lane, jackass!"

"Why do you need to find Katherine, Caroline?" Stefan asked, and Caroline paused on the other end of the line.

"You two are working together still?" she asked, a vague note of surprise in her voice. "You guys _must_ care." There was another honk and more cursing. "Seriously, does no one know how to _drive_ anymore? I want to find Katherine because I want the cure, Stefan. I know you guys had big dreams about returning Elena to her innocent human self, but that's not going to happen."

"The cure won't change anything that's happened, Caroline," Rebekah interjected, and Klaus shot her a sharp look, because he knew Rebekah's worry was over the thought that she would lose the cure for herself, not worry for Caroline. "It won't bring Liz or Matt back."

"I know, Rebekah," Caroline replied. "And I'm so very sorry you're not going to get your white picket fence and two-point-five kids, but I need that cure to kill Silas."

The three other vampires paused at her words. Whatever they were imagining her wanting the curse for, it hadn't been Silas' death. Caroline simple wasn't killing for revenge type. At least, she hadn't been.

"Think about this, Love. Silas is two thousand years old. Do you really want to go against him?" Klaus asked, worry for the blonde rising in him.

"I snapped his neck and stole his car after pretending that I was considering sleeping with him," Caroline replied coolly. "He had his tongue in my mouth at the time. I think I'm already against him, Klaus. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Tell me where you are," Klaus replied, his voice filled with barely restrained rage at the thought of Silas touching the girl he cared for.

On the other end of the line, Caroline smirked and told him where to meet her.

STILL-DOLL

Elena had managed to wrangle her way into joining the Caroline greeting committee by swearing to cause as much chaos as she could if she wasn't. Elena was pretty sure Klaus would have happily staked her, and Rebekah would have helped, only that would have taken precious seconds away from their departure, and Klaus was so desperate to meet the blonde baby vamp that he told Damon and Stefan to shut up and even held the door of the SUV open for Elena. So it was that the two Original siblings, Elena Gilbert, and Stefan Salvatore wound up on a road trip together, while Damon and Bonnie were left behind to hold down the fort.

"How did she sound?" Elena asked after they had been on the road for twenty minutes. Their location was ten minutes out, and Elena wanted to be prepared.

"She sounded cold," Stefan replied, when it became obvious that Klaus was going to ignore the question that had been directed at him. "She sounded cold and… tired, maybe."

"She's turned it off then," Elena mused. "Maybe I shouldn't have come, considering what happened between us the last time we met."

"Then why are you here?" Rebekah demanded. "It's not like your presence is necessary."

"I need the Klaroline reunion for my fanfiction," Elena deadpanned. "It's all very romantic. Why are you here?"

"I'm here for Nik," Rebekah replied. "And because someone needs to be here who will snap Caroline's neck if it's necessary."

"I can also fulfill that duty," Elena stated. "So really, you don't serve a purpose. Isn't that what you told me on the island? Or something along those lines?"

"Oh, go make another gif," Rebekah snapped, turning her attention away from the doppleganger and out the window.

"Will both of you shut up?" Klaus snapped from behind the steering wheel. "We are here for Caroline, not so the two of you can continue your petty little vendetta with each other. I thought you had decided to be a team after New York."

"We did, but then Rebekah turned out to be as useless at finding Katherine as you, so I decided to go back to being petty." Elena leaned forward between Klaus and Stefan so she could see Klaus' face better. "Speaking of which, how _are_ we going to find Katherine? Because Damon's information really turned out to be less than useless, and we all know how good _you_ are at finding her, so… are you going to disappoint Caroline or just snap her neck and drag her back with you like a caveman?"

"Get out of my personal space, Elena," Klaus growled with a scowl. "As for Katherine, I don't need to find her. Elijah already has."

"Elijah?" that caused Elena to lean back with shock. "Seriously, the honorable Elijah has been shacking up with Katherine? Wow, and I thought he was the smart one out of you idiots."

Klaus' eyes flashed to Elena in the rear view mirror dangerously and Elena gave him a little smile and a finger wave.

"Stop antagonizing the dangerous hybrid, Elena," Stefan muttered from his seat in the front of the SUV. "And it would have been nice to know that you already knew where Katherine was before Damon put hours of his time into trying to find out."

"And if I trusted Damon even a little bit, I may have. But I don't, so I didn't."

After that, the four vampires fell into silence. After a few minutes, Elena began to tap her fingers against the door, but a glare in the mirror from Klaus quickly put a stop even to that. It was the longest ten minutes of Elena's life, and she had to admit to being ecstatic, or at least as ecstatic as she was capable of being, when they finally pulled into the parking lot of a rundown diner.

Caroline was sitting in a corner booth watching the door when they entered. She looked perfectly healthy, dressed in jeans and a red camisole with her hair in its regular perky curls, but there was something inherently different about her. At first, it eluded Elena what that difference was, until realization smacked her with the force of a freight train as she slid into the booth across from Caroline.

The energy that had always surrounded Caroline, that had given her the ability to energize a room and bring out the best in everyone, was gone. Her eyes no longer sparkled with life, instead they were cold, empty. It was as if bright, bubbly Caroline had gone stagnant.

"I got the whole welcome committee," Caroline said as she slid over to make room for Stefan. Rebekah joined Elena, and Klaus stayed standing, his hands braced on the table. He was the one Caroline addressed. "I really only needed to meet you. I don't suppose you've miraculously discovered Katherine's location?"

"Shacked up with Elijah," Elena offered helpfully.

"Huh," Caroline replied, looking at Elena and appearing vaguely surprised. "What is it about your face that turns normally intelligent men into idiots? I mean, you guys are pretty enough, but look below the pretty and what's left?"

Elena raised her brows at that and felt a bit insulted.

"Do we really want to get into that battle, Care?" Elena responded. "We both know who the first choice always is."

"It's you," Caroline agreed. "I always figured you must be a real freak in bed, to keep them around even when you're sleeping with their brother. I mean, you did it, Katherine did it. From what I understand, even the original did it. _The Petrova Doppleganger… screwing up relationships between brothers since 1000 B.C._ You should get a t-shirt made."

"I didn't come here to be insulted," Elena snapped, irritated that the blonde didn't appreciate the trouble she'd gone through trying to find her.

"I don't really know why you did come, Elena. Trying to shove a stake through my heart is rather telling of your opinion of me. But you're right, you're not here to be insulted. You're here to tell me where Katherine is." Caroline looked back to Klaus and taped her fingers on the table top. "I'm waiting."

"You'll be waiting for a while, Love. I'm not telling you anything. I just came to bring you home."

"Seriously?" Caroline looked between the four other vampires. "The Hybrids turn on you, you kill them all _and_ Tyler's Mom. Damon sleeps with Rebekah there under false pretenses, and she tortures him. Silas kills my mom, he _tortures_ me, he manipulates me into killing Matt, and I'm supposed to just come home like a good little girl and what? Wait for him to come for me again? Let him wage some psychological warfare against me?" Caroline shoved Stefan violently out of the booth so she could flash up to get right into Klaus' face. "You're disappointing me, Klaus. Silas promised to let me have everyone who ever harmed me at my mercy if I stayed with him. He told me I could kill them all… Damon, Hayley, Katherine. Hell, he'd even bring back all the ones who died, just so I could do with them as I wish. Yet you won't let me avenge my mom's death? Well, maybe I made the wrong choice."

"The difference between Silas and I is that he wants to destroy everything that makes you Caroline. I want to preserve it," Klaus responded, refusing to step away from Caroline, forcing them to remain toe to toe and nose to nose.

"You really believe that, don't you?" Caroline asked with a furrowed brow. She took a step back from Klaus and gave him a smile that almost looked genuine, for all that it was heartbreakingly sad. "Oh, Klaus, there's nothing left of that girl to save. You buried Caroline Forbes with Liz and Matt. All that's left is a sad shell. The only thing that's keeping me going is vengeance. I want that, and then you can bury me for real."

"You're a fighter, Caroline," Stefan said, joining Klaus in facing down the blonde baby vampire. "You've fought through so much. You can get through this, too."

"And if I do, then what?" Caroline shot back. "I go back to being Miss Mystic Falls, the ever cheerful and bubbly? I could recover from killing twelve nameless witches, because it means Bonnie's alive. Those two deputies of my mom's? Well, at least you and Damon made it through. Even that Carnie the first night, I got past it, because I could tell myself I didn't know. But I killed Matt for revenge, Stefan. I killed him because Silas did what he does best, and he fooled Matt, but I didn't care about that. All I cared about was that my mom was dead, and Matt had done it, so he deserved to die too. Only he didn't, did he? I still loved him, you know. He was the first boy who ever seemed to like me for me, and you never quite get over that first love. How do you come back from that? And what kind of person would it make me if I wanted to?"

"I thought you shut off your humanity," Elena mused. "You shouldn't care about any of that stuff."

"Just because you forgot who you are when you flipped off your switch doesn't mean that I did, Elena. I still know who I was, and I know what I can live with and what I can't. I'm not out to hurt people just because, or to kill random humans, I want one thing. I want Silas dead. Right now, that's all I care about. That's all I can care about. So either help me, or leave me alone."

Elena opened her mouth to say she would help her, because despite what Caroline thought, Elena _did_ remember who she was before. She could remember that girl, and sometimes she even missed her, but Jeremy is dead, and who was that girl without family? Jeremy was the very best of Elena, and without him she's just the girl who can never make a choice. And Elena understood wanting revenge, because there was a part of her that lusted to hunt down Katherine and rip out her heart, but the thought of coming face to face with Katherine terrified Elena. Elena knew that if she met Katherine now, it would be like looking in a mirror that showed the future, because Katherine was Elena once, back when she was still Katerina, before she met Klaus and lost her family. And if Katerina was Elena with humanity, then Katherine was what Elena would be in five hundred years. But Elena never got the chance to say those things, because Rebekah was serious when she stated what her purpose was.

She was there to break Caroline's neck if Caroline was difficult, so that's what Rebekah did.

STILL-DOLL

Caroline awakened knowing she was in Mystic Falls. She would recognize the smells and the sounds of her home town anywhere. Normally, they would be intermingled with the smell of home and that scent that was distinctly Liz, but today it is Klaus she smells upon awaking.

She was in his bed, and he was lying next to her, awake and staring at the roof.

"I told you I didn't want to come back," Caroline said, rolling onto her side so she could look at him. She knew she should be angry, but Caroline can't muster the energy to feel it. She supposed that somewhere, deep inside of her, she knew it would come to this. She knew that her final battlefield would be Mystic Falls, and she can't blame Klaus and the others for not trying to fight the inevitable.

Klaus copies the movement and rolls onto his side as well, and they lie there with a foot of bed between each other and a whole host of things that need to be said but won't come out.

"I can't just give up on you," Klaus said at last, after the silence and the tension became almost too much to bear. "And you can't ask me too. Not when I've done so much worse and you deserve none of what has been forced on you."

"You can't fight this battle for me, Klaus," Caroline replied. "And I don't want to fight it. I'm afraid of who I will be if I come out of this alive. Right now it's simple. I feel nothing, I regret nothing, but if I let go of that and try to go back to the girl you want? I don't think I'm strong enough."

"You are the strongest of any of us," Klaus replied. "You got away from Silas, didn't you?"

"I let him think he was seducing me," Caroline replied coldly, rolling onto her back. "It was a very Katherine thing to do, and I feel no pride in it. The girl you fell in love with would be disgusted with the girl who let Silas touch her like that."

"The girl I fell in love with and the girl who did what she had to do to survive are the same person," Klaus replied, and it surprised Caroline that he didn't try to deny it. Klaus didn't do love, yet here he was doing it for her. "Perhaps I can't fight this battle for you, but I can at least give you strength until you can fight it yourself."

"Or you could just tell me where Katherine is." Caroline sat up and looked down into Klaus' eyes. "I don't want to be at his mercy again, Klaus. I would rather take off my ring and walk into the sun. If I am with him again, I will completely forget that girl who was so full of light that she attracted even you. As it is, I've already lost her. Don't make me lose her memory too."

Klaus sat up as well, and reached out his hand. He laid it on top of Caroline's, and when she didn't pull away, he intertwined their fingers.

"Silas drove me out of my mind with madness. I thought I was dying, and you stayed by me. You didn't have to, you had every reason in the world not to, but you stayed. I am not a good man, Caroline. I probably never will be. But you make me want to be better. Won't you let me help you do the same?"

Caroline stared at their intertwined fingers. She knew she should pull away on simple principle. He killed Jenna, he drove Tyler away, and he took away Stefan's humanity. There were a whole list of reasons why she should turn away from Klaus, and go running to her friends for comfort and help.

But Klaus had told her once that they were the same, and she had come to realize that was true. As dark as Klaus was, Caroline had that same darkness inside of her, and right then it wanted to consume her. Klaus' hand in hers was like a tether holding her to reality. He didn't judge. He wouldn't look at her and mourn Matt.

"I know you all want me to return to who I was, but I can't right now, Klaus. Not while Silas is still alive. I need to be as strong as I can possibly be, and right now that's what I am." Caroline tightened the hold between their fingers. "Help me kill Silas, and then we'll talk. Then, we can see if anything of Caroline can be saved."

Klaus didn't say anything at first, and Caroline feared that he might refuse her request, but then he gave a sharp nod.

"We'll take care of Silas first. Elijah is on his way here with Katerina now. But _you_ won't be going anywhere near the cure, Caroline. Elijah and I will figure out the best way to kill Silas with it, and you'll stay safe."

Caroline doesn't make any promises, and she lets Klaus take her silence as agreement. But she remembered her promise to herself, that she would never be anyone's victim again, and she knew that she would be paying her own visit to Katherine when the older vampire got into town.

It was time for Caroline to take her own fate into her own hands.

**AN: Now, Caroline's reactions may seem a bit erratic. That is done on purpose. It's going to be covered more in-depth in future chapters, but to make a long story short, when Caroline turned off her humanity she had reached the end of her sanity. She'd been physically and mentally tortured for days, she watched her mom die, and then she killed Matt. To put it bluntly, Caroline's gone a little batshit, and so one minute she'll seem almost normal, and the next she'll be so cold you'd get frost bite if you touched her. Also, I enjoyed writing Elena this chapter, because I figure that she'd be aware of why everyone wants her to turn her emotions back on, and I figure there's probably more than **_**this is too much fun**_** to why she refuses to. So yeah… there's my justification.**

**Also, speaking of Elena, I've posted the first chapter of **_**The Adventures of Shipper Elena**_**. It's Elena-centric, and set in the **_**Still Doll**_** world, and is pure crack fic. It's my way of getting away from the seriousness of my stories, and Shipper Elena is great fun to be with. So, if you like that character, go and take a look at that. **

**As always, please review, and if you read **_**Conversations With Myself**_**, then you're getting a double update today. **


	7. Holy Water

**AN: New chapter. Silas returns…**

**Six. Holy Water**

"_Everything would shine, wherever she would go, but looking at her now you'd never tell." ~Holy Water, Big & Rich_

"Caroline. Caroline, wake up my sweet."

Caroline opened her eyes blearily. The night had been an ordeal, filled with memories of killing Matt and watching Liz die. It felt like she had only just fallen asleep, and now someone was trying to wake her up.

"Eurgh… what time is it?" she groaned, rolling onto her side so she could see the alarm clock.

"10:38," the voice that had awoken her said at the same time that Caroline managed to make enough sense of the world to see the numbers for herself. It also meant she had enough sense to recognize the voice, and she felt a chill of fear run down her spine.

"Are you here to kill me?" she asked Silas, refusing to look in his direction.

"Of course not, Caroline. I'm here to see how you're doing. You left me rather suddenly… with a stake in the heart. I'll admit, it hurt a bit."

Caroline slowly sat up and began to consider her best course of action. There was the window, or the door. There was also always the option of screaming and hoping that someone came to her assistance.

"I wouldn't suggest running, sweet Caroline," Silas said. "Or screaming. The first Original to come through the door will die."

Caroline felt the bed behind her lower under Silas' weight as he came to sit on the edge. Moments later, she was tugged backwards hard by her hair. Silas held it wrapped around one hand, while his other went to stroke her neck.

"I'll admit, you surprised me," Silas said, looking into Caroline's eyes. He was in his actual body, and so his eyes were grey. "I'm impressed, even. I underestimated you, and you took full advantage of that. Though I do dislike that you immediately wound up in Klaus' bed. Tell me, sweet Caroline, did you tease him the way you teased me, or did you let him between these sweet thighs of yours?"

"You sound like the villain from a bad romance novel," Caroline hissed, yanking her head and trying to pull her hair from Silas' grip. The elder immortal just tightened his hold. "And maybe I did. Maybe I rode him like a freaking _stallion_. Are you jealous?"

"If I thought for a moment you were telling the truth, I would be," Silas replied. "Best you know, if you do get the idea to ah… _ride him like a stallion_, not even you on your knees begging for mercy will save the life of Niklaus Mikaelson."

"Kill him, and you kill me," Caroline pointed out.

"That is a problem," Silas agreed. "One I'm working on dealing with. Which is why I must go now. I have a witch to meet about some spells, but I will see you again soon, Sweet Caroline. Our time together may have had a slight setback, but nothing that we can't work with."

Silas pressed his mouth to Caroline's, but before she could bite him or shove him away, the grip in her hair disappeared, and so did Silas.

Caroline was left sitting in the middle of the bed feeling sick.

STILL-DOLL

Elijah turned up with the cure but without Katherine.

"So, this is it?" Rebekah asked as she and her siblings stood around Klaus' desk looking at the small bottle. "It seems so… insignificant."

"Looks are deceiving, Rebekah," Elijah replied. "Now, would you care to tell me why you demanded I return to Mystic Falls with the cure?"

"Would you care to tell me why you returned without Katerina Petrova?" Klaus shot back.

"Did you really expect Katerina to come anywhere near you?" Elijah replied. "She is not so stupid, brother."

"No matter. Katerina is not the person worrying me right now." Klaus reached for the cure, but Elijah's hand flashed out and grabbed it first.

"Not so fast, Niklaus. I have some conditions you must meet before you receive this," Elijah said, moving so that he kept the desk between himself and Klaus.

"Of course you do," sneered Rebekah. "Really, Elijah, the way you cater to those doppleganger bitches is pathetic. How many times do they have to betray you before you stop loving them?"

"No one ever stops loving a doppleganger."

The three siblings spun towards the door. Caroline leaned against the frame watching them. The emotions Klaus had seen shining through the cracks of her vampire façade the previous night were gone. Whatever weaknesses Caroline had in her wall against humanity had been carefully hidden. The girl who stood before them had no light, she had no weaknesses. She was cold as ice and untouchable.

"It's true," she continued when the Originals just continued to stare at her. "Elena is a stone cold bitch right now, and the Salvatores would still throw themselves onto a stake if she said that's what she really wanted. Katherine killed Jeremy, tried to kill Klaus, even unleashed your father, and Elijah there will apparently still barter for her life. Once you love a doppleganger, the only way to get over it is to love the next one." Caroline straightened and entered the room. "What I want to know is how you convinced Katherine to give you the cure before you had Klaus' word. Are you sure it's even real?"

"Miss Forbes," Elijah greeted. "You seem different."

"I turned off my humanity," Caroline replied with a shrug before meeting Klaus' eyes. "Silas was in my room."

"What?" Klaus roared, and within a blink he was in front of Caroline, looking her over for any signs of harm. When there were none, he rested his hands on her arms and looked into her eyes. "Did he touch you?"

"Of course he touched me," Caroline responded, shrugging off Klaus' grip and making her way to the mantle where he kept his best scotch. She poured herself two fingers, considered the glass, then filled it right to the rim. "Between the two of you, I keep expecting someone to take a piss on me to mark their territory. Tell me, Elijah. You're the smart sibling, from what I've seen, what is it about me that draws all the monsters? What about me screams victim to the world? Because I'm getting tired of it."

"From what _I've_ observed, you're the anti-thesis of all that Silas is. Or at least, you were. The dark will always wish to destroy that which is light. That is the nature of darkness."

"Poetic," Caroline said before tossing back the scotch. "It's also a load of crap. Have any of you ever _met_ me? And I mean really met me. I'm a bitch. Rebekah knows I'm a bitch, because she was on the cheer squad with me for months. I'm obsessive, and a control freak and I'm also a little bit narcissistic. Hell, I've turned off my humanity. Silas paid me a visit. And I still had to spend half an hour on this"—Caroline lifted up her curls—"before I was willing to come downstairs. I know my faults. I see them even clearer now that there's none of that pesky humanity to make me feel all self-conscious. So why can't they see them as well?" Caroline rounded on Klaus, her eyes finally filled with life again, even if it was anger. Caroline might try to hide the cracks, but they were still there. "Well? Why can't you?"

"Because you're also charming, and kind, and loyal to a fault. For someone who has had to torture and manipulate to receive any sort of loyalty, can you not see how you might appeal?" Klaus replied. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but Caroline seemed to be on the edge of control. She might try to wave off Silas' visit as nothing, but Klaus could see that it had cut her to the quick. That whatever pieces of herself she may have managed to glue back together were in danger of shattering once more.

"Then why does he want to break me? If it's all of the good stuff that attracted him, then why does he want to destroy it?" Caroline asked, sounding like a lost little girl.

"Because as horrible as Nik may be, he is not pure evil despite all his best attempts," Rebekah replied. "He looks at you and sees those wonderful things he says are in you, and it makes him want to be better. But Silas doesn't want to be better. Nor does he want the reminder that there are better things than him. So he will destroy you, because you are his opposite and he wants you to be weaker than he is. You're right; I know you're a bitch. I also know that you never give into intimidation. I've seen you reduce girls to tears with a few words. Are you going to let this Silas destroy you, Caroline Forbes?"

Caroline took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She reached out for the scotch and Elijah, seeing what she wanted, quickly flashed forward and poured her another half glass. With her eyes still closed, Caroline tossed back the alcohol. Once she swallowed, she opened them once more. The ice was back, her walls were once again in place, but Klaus worried. When a vampire turned off their humanity, it was supposed to sever all emotional ties, but Caroline seemed to flicker. One moment she was cold and empty, the next she was unstable, seeming unable to separate herself from the emotions that threatened to swallow her whole.

"You missed your calling as a motivational speaker," Caroline said to Rebekah. "Klaus said you had the cure, Elijah."

"Indeed, I do," Elijah responded, his voice carefully blank.

"Great. What do you want for it?"

Elijah looked taken aback at the blunt method of Caroline's negotiation, but he played along with it.

"I want Niklaus to grant Katerina pardon."

"Of course you do. Fine then, pardon the bitch and let's be on our way," Caroline said, turning back to Klaus.

"It's not that simple, Caroline. Katerina has been a rather large pain for a rather long time. Pardoning her is not so simple."

"Look, this is how it is," Caroline snapped, digging her finger into Klaus' chest. "Katherine killed me. She smothered me with a pillow, and once it turned out that I became a vampire, she tormented me and planned on handing me over to you as a sacrifice. I have a hundred and more reasons for hating Katherine Pierce. You, on the other hand, created her. You wanted to use her as a sacrifice, she wanted to live, so she outwitted you. In vengeance, you killed her family. She has every right to want you _dead_, you have no right to want her dead. So get over your childish grudge and pardon the woman so that maybe, just maybe, she'll get the hell out of all of our lives."

"You're overstepping your bounds, Caroline," Klaus growled, grasping Caroline's wrist and pulling it back so her finger left his chest. "Just because I care for you doesn't mean I will obey you like a sad little puppy."

"No, you'll do it because Rebekah is right. Despite your best efforts, you're _not_ Silas. So stop trying to be. As much as I hate to feel pity for Katherine, you ruined her life, Klaus. It's been five hundred years. Let her try and piece it back together." Caroline pulled her hand free from Klaus, only to turn it around and twine their fingers together as they had the night before. "If not for your brother, who obviously has a serious hard-on for her, then for me?"

"You ruined that a bit," Klaus replied. "By saying the word _hard-on_. Rather crass, Caroline."

"Says the guy who slept with the Appalachian Wonder, _Hayley_? I mean, does that girl even know what class is? I'm pretty sure you have no right to call my taste into question."

Caroline once again pulled away from Klaus, moving this time to sit in the leather chair behind the desk. She grabbed the scotch on the way and poured herself another glass before propping her feet up on the desk.

"You know, I kind of get why you're so controlling now. This set up totally makes me feel like Tony Soprano. It's kind of awesome." Caroline watched Klaus as she took another sip of scotch.

"How did you find out about Hayley?" Klaus asked through numb lips. It was a scenario he had dreaded, almost as soon as he had finished the act. Caroline finding out about his indiscretion and turning him aside because of it.

"Silas mentioned it. He seemed to think it might bring out some anger towards the were-bitch. By the way, I told him I rode you like a stallion. Considering your previous sexcapades, I didn't think you'd care too much. He didn't believe me, but he did threaten to kill you ever I ever made it a reality." Caroline shrugged and took another drink. "This is really good scotch."

"You _are_ crass without your humanity," Rebekah observed. "What would the Miss Mystic panel think of you now?"

"Before or after I ripped out the jugulars of all the other competitors?" Caroline shot back. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I already won my title, no compulsion needed. No matter what else happens, that can always go on my resume. But we're getting off topic… pardoning Katherine, yay or nay? Maybe we should put it to a vote. I vote yay."

"It's not as simple as you wish it to be, Caroline. If others find out I pardoned Katerina, they will view it as a weakness and-"

"Weaknesses aren't allowed?" Caroline cut in. "Seriously Klaus, if that happens, you tear off their heads. It's pretty simple, really."

"Caroline is right, Niklaus," Elijah joined in with the convincing. "It's been five hundred years. Enough is enough. You need never lay eyes on Katerina again, if that is what you wish. Just allow her freedom."

"Oh for… when was the last time actively pursued, Katerina, Elijah?" Klaus demanded. "You were the one obsessed with her for centuries. If the woman is too foolish to realize that I _simply don't care_ enough to hunt her down, then let her keep running. After her actions with the Gilbert boy, it's not me she needs to worry about anyways."

"Well then," Caroline said to the air as Elijah and Rebekah both stared at their brother. "What was that whole, _I am alpha, she pissed me off, she must die_ thing for, then?"

"I dislike being ordered about," Klaus muttered with the smallest of pouts, and Caroline actually let out a snort of near-laughter, which drew the stares of siblings to her now.

"What? It was funny. He's like a twelve year old. Go back to staring at Klaus. He's the one who just admitted to basically faking a five hundred year old vendetta. I mean really, who does that?" Caroline motioned with her glass. "Does this mean you faked it with Tyler, too? Should I be telling him that he can saunter right on back and everything will be fine?"

"If either of them were in front of me, I would kill them," Klaus replied, both irritated and somewhat relieved that Caroline seemed to be somewhat level again. "Just because I have better things to do than hunt them doesn't mean I wouldn't kill them if they were in front of me. And Tyler's situation is a little different. Five hundred years, and Katerina has only ever been involved in one failed attempt on my life, after which she rapidly _fled_. Tyler, on the other hand, was involved with numerous attempts, turned all my hybrids against me _and_ stuck around, as if I would simply let him live. It doesn't work like that, Caroline. Katerina knows to stay away, even after pardoned. Tyler would not. The boy is too foolish."

Caroline shrugged.

"Whatever. If that's all figured out, then give me the cure and let's get this show on the road."

"I fail to see how having the cure will help you," Rebekah stated. "Unless I'm mistaken, he is still over two thousand years old and possibly a witch-vampire hybrid. You are a mere baby vampire whose ability to even maintain a state of inhumanity must be called into serious question. What do you expect to do with the cure?"

"I was considering sleeping with Silas and then shoving the cure down his throat as he bathed in the afterglow," Caroline deadpanned in return. "I managed to escape from him with a similar maneuver, so why not?"

"Absolutely not!" Klaus replied, and it was only when he saw Rebekah and Elijah's shocked expressions that he realized he had bellowed the words. He cleared his throat, and made sure to bring his voice to a more acceptable volume. "Such a plan would involve you going back to him. First of all, he would be suspicious of such an act, particularly after your daring escape. Second, he nearly broke you last time, _and_ he manipulated you into killing one of your best friends. While I really have no care for the Donovan boy, I dislike being outsmarted by anyone, and that is what happened. You will remain here, where the three of us can keep an eye on you, until such a time as we conceive and successfully complete a plan to end Silas' life."

"And maybe he'll manipulate the three of you into killing each other instead," Caroline responded coolly. "Only he won't kill you, Klaus, not yet. Not until he's broken the bloodline ties. He has witches working on it. Apparently killing his little toy, i.e me, isn't in his cards yet. But Rebekah and Elijah? They'll be fair game. And we both know how talented Silas is at manipulation. He doesn't get to kill anyone else. This will end with me and him, or I'll take myself out of the equation all together."

"Him and me," Elijah corrected softly, his gaze on Caroline shrewd. "And by taking yourself out of the equation, I assume you mean suicide. I fail to see what that would accomplish."

"Nothing for you, but it means I don't have to worry about going through Silas' brand of torture again. If Silas wins this, if we don't kill him, then I will take the cure myself and die as a human. That way, I by pass the other side and am out of Silas' reach forever." Caroline stood, leaving her glass on the desk. "I have to go to my house. Take care of Mom's stuff. The funeral is tomorrow, right? I'll have to practice my sad face as well."

Without another word, Caroline left the three siblings behind.

"One of us should go with her. Try to talk some sense into her," Elijah said.

Klaus opened his mouth, to say that he and he alone would deal with Caroline, but Rebekah surprised him.

"I'll go. Girl-to-girl, I'll figure out what's going on inside of her head, because she isn't acting rational. Not like a humanity-less vampire usually does. There's something seriously wrong with her, Nik."

Klaus didn't reply, he just picked up Caroline's glass, looking down at the clear bottom. Rebekah was right, there was something wrong with Caroline. Silas had broken something essential in her, and even without her emotions, the madness sometimes shone through.

Klaus didn't know if he could save her from what was coming.

**AN: And that is chapter six. As you can see, Caroline is walking a very thin line between sane and insane. And Klaus likes people to spend their lives in fear of him, even though he really doesn't care enough about them to hunt them down. Cause that's how Klaus rolls.**

**This was totally a transition chapter, but I needed to write a bit more about how Caroline is dealing with everything. As you can see, she's pretty much down to Silas dies, or I do. And there's more to come, the poor dear.**

**As always, please review!**


	8. Help, I'm Alive

**AN: New chapter all. Please enjoy.**

**Seven. Help, I'm Alive**

"_I tremble. They're gonna eat me alive. If I stumble. They're gonna eat me alive." ~Help, I'm Alive, Metric_

Caroline felt some surprise when Rebekah accompanied her to the Forbes residence. She had expected it to be Klaus, even Elijah, over the sister. Her relationship with Rebekah had always been tumultuous at best, with the two girls being too alike to ever really get along. Now that Caroline had killed Matt, she'd thought that the best case scenario would be Rebekah ignoring her, and worst case would be Klaus actively having to prevent Rebekah tearing Caroline's head off.

"Why haven't you tried to kill me yet?"

"You're quite blunt, aren't you?" Rebekah drawled as she steered the SUV down the streets that were so familiar to Caroline.

"I killed Matt. You had a thing for him. Unless you're over that? Only, you still want the cure for yourself, and part of you has to want Matt to be part of those human dreams of yours. So… why haven't you tried to kill me yet?"

Rebekah pulled into the driveway of Caroline's house without speaking. She turned off the van and still remained silent. Caroline had begun to give up hope of getting an answer and was reaching for the door handle when Rebekah finally spoke.

"It was what you said about him being your first love, and how you never really get over that. You can act as cold and as distant as you want, but even without your humanity on, in that moment you mourned him. Perhaps it's because your mind is broken, and it won't let you flip that switch, not completely, but you mourned him. And I don't think I could hate you as much as you hated yourself at that moment in time. So I won't try to kill you, and I will actively keep you alive. Not because Nik cares for you, though that may play some part, but because that will be your punishment. Matt will be dead, and you will have to live on. There may come a time when you will feel death would have been kinder."

Rebekah opened her door and stepped out. Caroline sat utterly still in her seat, staring at the empty space that Rebekah had occupied. Her entire body felt frozen, as if every cell had lost its ability to function. Never had Caroline heard Rebekah sound so honest, or so vindictive. It was Rebekah tapping on the hood of the SUV for Caroline's attention that finally snapped her out of her stasis. Caroline opened the door and followed the other girl inside of the house. She felt a brief jolt, when Rebekah was able to enter the house without an invitation. Liz had no relatives left, just Caroline, and a house deed passed to a dead girl couldn't keep vampires out.

"Have you ever flipped the switch?" Caroline asked Rebekah, as she led the other girl up the steps.

"Never. At first, we didn't know we could. By the time we figured it out, I never felt the need. I had lost so much of my humanity, I didn't wish to lose my ability to feel as well."

"You all think I'm crazy, don't you?" Caroline asked, opening Liz's closet and looking at the clothes inside. It was a sparse selection. Liz had never been the dress up type, nothing at all like Caroline, who had been all about glitz and glam and make up and layering in just the right shades. Liz had a few pant suits and one modest black dress that was reserved for funerals and weddings. Caroline could remember helping Liz pick that out, when she was fifteen and telling her mom that pant suits were so last year, and she needed something functional and pretty for special occasions.

"Are you going to deny it?" Rebekah replied.

"I think my switch is faulty," Caroline responded softly, as if admitting to some great evil. She reached out and ran her fingers over the dress, memories still bombarding her. "One minute, I feel numb and empty, and the next it's as if the emotions won't go away. I'll feel nothing but disdain for Silas, then the memories will surface and I'll feel terrified that he might appear again. One minute, I can forget that Mom and Matt are dead, and the next…"

Caroline grabbed the dress off its hanger and tore it apart, ripping at the seams, and even bringing her fangs into play, trying to do as much damage to the garment as she possibly could. Rebekah stood back, watching as Caroline completely destroyed the garment that carried so many memories. Just when Caroline thought she was going to crack, that that was it, and she really sucked at keeping that switch flipped, the calm settled over her. Her mind emptied of the grief, and the dress in her hands became nothing more than some ruined fabric, and she thought to herself that it was so incredibly _foolish_, to let something as small as a dress get under skin like that.

"We'll need a garbage bag," Caroline said, and her voice sounded empty, almost robotic, even to her own ears. Rebekah had taken a step back at the incredible transition between emotions, and Caroline thought that it was almost amusing, how the big bad original looked almost scared of the baby vampire. When Rebekah didn't move to get the garbage bag requested, Caroline shrugged and left the room. She went downstairs. She could hear Rebekah finally begin to move back in Liz's room, and heard her murmuring something in a low voice, probably talking to Klaus.

Caroline grabbed a box of garbage bags and began to make her way back to Liz's room when she glanced to her left, and her gaze caught on the gun case. Liz kept it locked and the key hidden away in her room even though Caroline was long past the age where she would play with guns. Caroline stared through the glass front of the case. There was a semi-automatic rifle and two hand guns, both automatics, held inside. Caroline could remember weekends spent at the shooting range when she'd rather be shopping with her friends learning how to shoot those guns. Caroline had hated the lessons and she had never told anyone, not even Elena and Bonnie about it.

But dammit, she had become a spectacular shot. By the time Liz had deemed her proficient enough with the guns to keep herself safe, Caroline had hit the bullseye of her target every time. She had excelled particularly at head shots.

Caroline reached out and grasped the front of the case in her hands and neatly ripped it off. She ignored the rifle, too large and obvious for her purposes, but she took both handguns. After making sure the safety was on for both, she hid one in the waist band of her pants and the other went in her boot. Then, she lifted the hidden bottom of the cabinet, pulling out Liz's hidden supply of wooden bullets.

The next time Silas came anywhere near her, he would get an unpleasant surprise.

STILL-DOLL

Rebekah's phone call had been alarming.

Elijah had listened closely as Rebekah had explained Caroline Forbes' apparent mood swings. From wild and grieving to cold and distant in under five seconds was how Rebekah had described it. Elijah didn't know the Forbes girl well, could not even recall having spoken to her before, but he knew enough of the famed humanity switch to know that Caroline was not acting the way she should.

"She may become a liability," Elijah said softly once Niklaus had hung up the cell.

"If you are even suggesting that we kill Caroline, I suggest you reconsider, brother," Niklaus responded coldly. "If Caroline dies, Katerina can say good-bye to any leniency I may have granted her. I will make it my life's mission to find her and rip her heart out, just so you can see. Are we clear?"

Elijah looked at his brother with narrowed eyes. The threat angered Elijah, but it was expected… only Elijah had thought it would take a suggestion of a truce with the Salvatores, or the suggestion that Rebekah receive the cure to bring it out. A blonde cheerleader with mental issues being the cause of Niklaus' threats of violence? That was unexpected.

Unless…

"You love her," Elijah said, but the words came out in a low, choked whisper. In a thousand years, Elijah had only ever seen Niklaus in love once, and that had been when they were still human. Elijah had come to doubt that his brother was capable of such an emotion now, but… "How on Earth did that happen?"

"She will not die," Niklaus responded coldly, not answering the question and getting up from his seat, the same seat Caroline had sat in less than an hour earlier. "Not by your hand, and certainly not by Silas'. Find me a way to outsmart him, brother. To kill him. Do that, and not only will I pardon Katerina, but I will even welcome her into our family as sister, if that is what you wish."

STILL-DOLL

_You need to wake up._

Bonnie snapped up. She had been dreaming of Jeremy; of seeing his smile, of holding his hand one last time. Getting to say good-bye. Then he had told her frantically to wake up.

And Bonnie awoke, surrounded by flame and smoke.

She gave a small shriek and grasped onto her magic, using it to put the flames out. She hastily shoved her blankets off of her and looked at her legs, searching for any burns. There were none, and she gave a sigh of relief. The last thing anyone needed was a handicapped witch.

"That's different. It can't be good for you, to go all _Carrie_ in your sleep."

"Care!" Bonnie gasped out startled. Her blonde friend sat on a chair next to her, filing her nails as if she didn't have a care in the world. Stefan had told Bonnie that Caroline had turned her humanity off; that she was as unfeeling as Elena. Bonnie hadn't wanted to believe him, but the blonde looked bored. The Caroline Bonnie knew would have been frantic if she found her best friend setting fires in her sleep. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," Caroline replied, putting her file away and leaning towards Bonnie. "There may be a spell that can break the bloodlines, but it requires a certain level of power. _Expression_ power. One spell, and we're all free from Klaus."

Alarm bells went off in Bonnie's mind.

"I thought you'd be more worried about Silas," she said slowly. "You know, since he tortured you and killed your _mom_ and everything."

"Silas didn't kill my mom," Caroline bit out in a stilted voice. "That was Matt. And now he's dead, so life goes on."

On the surface, everything seemed right when you considered the situation. Caroline was without her humanity; why would she care about Matt or Liz if she was without her humanity? Elena certainly didn't care about anything or anyone. Except maybe her Tumblr page, but that was disturbing on so many levels that Bonnie was trying to block thoughts of Elena's new hobby.

Yes, the Caroline in front of her fit everything you should expect from someone without humanity. The eyes were cold and distant, the demeanour uncaring, but…

If there was one person in the world Bonnie Bennett knew, it was Caroline Forbes. Caroline who had always been an open book, even when she was trying to hide her pain and help others. Caroline, whose greatest joy came from planning the perfect party.

Those alarm bells rang louder, more insistent. And Bonnie hadn't survived this long in Mystic Falls without learning to listen to her instincts.

"Where's Klaus?" Bonnie asked. "I mean, how did you get away from him. Stefan told me that he seemed pretty insistent that you stick close to him. So how did you get away from him? And are you sure plotting against him right _now_ is such a good idea?"

As she spoke, Bonnie had carefully extricated herself from the couch and moved around it, so the peace furniture was between her and Caroline.

Caroline sighed.

"Those pesky witch senses. You really shouldn't have questioned me, Bonnie. Now you've made everything so much more difficult."

The Caroline impersonator stood, and Bonnie turned and ran for the door. She came to a jolting halt when someone stepped in front of her.

Jeremy.

"Would you be more accommodating if I look like this? Will your beloved Jeremy get you to stop you running and behave?"

Bonnie glared at the figure of Jeremy, only it wasn't Jeremy, of course. Only one person had the ability to shift forms like this.

_Silas_.

"Haven't you done enough?" Bonnie demanded. "You killed Liz, and Matt. You destroyed Caroline. What more do you want?"

"From you? I merely want you're cooperation. I have two spells I need performed and several witches whose power you can channel to perform them. However, _you_ must be the one to do it. You Bennett witches. It's really your own fault, you know. If you stopped letting yourselves get caught up with vampires, maybe you wouldn't be forced to forever save the day. It's your curse, really."

As he spoke, Silas-Jeremy paced ever closer to Bonnie, who backed up at the same pace.

"You want me to perform your spells, I get that. What more do you want from Caroline? Haven't you done enough to her?" Bonnie hissed as she hit the back of the couch and could move no further. Silas kept walking to her until their toes were touching.

"Caroline? I haven't even begun with Caroline yet, Bonnie. But don't worry, she'll realize her true potential yet. Soon, with your help, I'll have all eternity uninterrupted to make her see it."

"Fuck you!" Bonnie spat out, using her powers to set off aneurisms in Silas' brain. She felt a pang when he groaned in pain in Jeremy's voice, but Bonnie didn't allow herself time to think about that. Instead, she ran for the door with all she had. She had opened it, was prepared to step outside and run for safety, when it slammed shut again under her fingers.

"That's not very nice, Bonnie," Silas hissed. He grasped Bonnie by the throat and Bonnie scrambled with her nails against his grip. It was incredibly strong, unbreakable, and it was cutting off her air. Bonnie tried to give Silas another aneurism, but Silas merely winced. "That's enough of that, little witch."

Then, with a deft flick of Silas' wrist, Bonnie's head met the hard wood of the door, and she knew nothing but darkness.

**AN: The plot: thickens. Bennett witches cast all the spells, and it comes back to bite poor Bonnie on the ass. As you can see, Caroline is unstable, and now that Bonnie is in Silas' hands things may get messy. As always, please review.**

**And let me know what you thought of that finale. Personally, I was both pleased and disappointed. The twists were good, and I actually loved the Klaroline good-bye, but why bring back all those dead characters if they were going to be so underused. I wanted more Vaughn, and what purpose did Connor and Alexander even serve? What did you think?**

**Updates may be a little slower these days because I've started my summer job, and it's farmer's hours. That means 7:30 mornings and 11:30 nights. Not much time for writing in there. But please be patient, because I still have inspiration for this story and plan on continuing it.**


	9. Shake It Out

_**AN: Been a while, but here's a new update. We actually begin to see the stirrings of action in this story, as people actually start to make their moves. Check out the song from the quote, just cause all the song quotes I use come from great songs. **_

**Eight. Shake It Out**

"_I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart." ~ Shake It Out, Florence + The Machine_

Rebekah had received a call. Caroline didn't know who it was from, or what it was about, but it resulted in her sitting alone in Klaus' study with strict orders not to leave the house while Rebekah tore off to… somewhere.

Caroline had been surprised that she was being left alone, only then Elena arrived, poured herself a glass of bourbon and sat on the couch to stare at her.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked the brunette.

"Babysitting you," Elena replied. "Damon was all in a lather about something, I don't know what. He called in the Originals, and they sent me over here to make sure that your crazy doesn't mean you do something stupid. I'm not sure what stupid they're expecting, but such is life."

Caroline opened her mouth to give a scathing retort, but then she snapped it shut again and eyed Elena critically. Elena without her humanity is a stone cold bitch, but she's also a stone cold bitch willing to get shit done.

"I want to shove the cure down Silas' throat and kill him," Caroline said after a long moment of contemplating her choices. "You want to make sure that cure won't be used on you, right? So, why don't we help each other."

"Please," Elena scoffed. "The cure is within Klaus' reach. With you being all sad and tortured and without your humanity there is no way I'll be getting the cure forced on me anymore. No, that's far more likely to happen to you." At Caroline's surprised look, Elena snorted. "Didn't think about that, did you? Klaus has a neat little cure in his hand that will bring back his bubbly little cheerleader, and k never thought he might use it to do so?"

Caroline considered Elena's theory. It was true, that giving her the cure would force her to feel again, but Caroline can remember Klaus' words the day that Tyler ran. When he said they were alike, and that she didn't want the cure. He was right. She liked who she was, or at least she _had_, before Matt and her mom had died. That was the difference between her and Elena; Elena _hated_ being a vampire, when she was capable of hating anyway. That's why no one had any problem shoving the cure down _her _throat, because they figured she'd want it anyway if she was in her right mind.

"I like being a vampire," Caroline said. "Klaus knows that. He won't make me take the cure."

"Correction, you _liked_ being a vampire, before you ripped out Matt's throat and your mom died. Now you're Silas' broken little toy, and Klaus has a roll of duct tape in a handy cure. What's to stop him from giving you the cure and then turning you again once he's sure you won't try to commit suicide by way of ancient warlock?" Elena shrugged and took a sip of the bourbon. "Let's face it, Care. You're not the same girl Klaus became obsessed with. Now, he'll either decide to bring that girl back, or he'll decide you're not worth it and walk away. Either way, he doesn't want _you_. He wants _her_. The girl you were."

"Projecting much?" Caroline responded, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "You turn off your humanity and not even _Damon_ wants you anymore, so you decide that everyone is like that. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, sweetie, but the reason no one wants you like this is because there already is one Katerina Petrova. Katherine is better at being her than you ever will be, so why would either of them want a cheap imitation? At least with your humanity you engaged a verbal filter."

"Big words for someone that had to be saved from a vampire younger than you. I could have killed you once. Do you really think I can't do it again?" Elena sneered. "So keep on prattling, Caroline. It's the only thing you're good at."

Caroline stared at Elena with narrowed eyes. This wasn't going at all as planned. Caroline had planned to bring Elena to her side and, by default, the Salvatore brothers. Obviously that wasn't going to work. Still, Caroline hadn't been lying when she called this Elena a cheap imitation of Katherine. Katherine, who had given Elijah the cure, which meant that Elijah knew how to contact the elder Petrova doppleganger. And Elijah was currently gone to places unknown with his siblings, which meant that his belongings were free to be snooped through. Assuming, of course, that Caroline could ditch the unwanted babysitter.

"Right. Alaric's training," Caroline agreed, nodding her head sagely in remembrance. "It, of course, had nothing to do with the fact that I still cared and you didn't. Nope. Totally Alaric's training."

Caroline pulled out a handgun loaded with wooden bullets and shot Elena twice, just to the right of her heart. While Elena stared at the wounds in shock, Caroline unloaded another bullet into the brunette's head, and then ditched the gun altogether to flash behind Elena and snap her neck.

"I also didn't have a gun at the time," Caroline commented to Elena's collapsed body. "Apparently Alaric's training wasn't that great after all."

Caroline retrieved her gun, engaged the safety, and put it back her pants waistband. Then she abandoned Elena in favor of ransacking Elijah's room.

The Petrova dopplegangers were exchangeable for everyone else. Why not Caroline as well?

Bonnie woke in the catacombs where Silas had kept Caroline. She recognized them because the bloody spots where Liz Forbes and Matt had been slain were still there, a haunting memory of what Silas had put Bonnie's blonde friend through.

"Ah, you've awoken. Excellent. That means we can get started." Silas stepped into the stone room and clapped his hands together. He was wearing Caroline's face once more, but Bonnie had no trouble telling the difference. Silas was incapable of passing for Caroline because he was incapable of expressing the humanity that made Caroline so strong. The humanity Silas had stripped from her.

"I won't do your spells," Bonnie said, glaring at the warlock. "I won't let you hurt Care again."

"You really need to get over this blind loyalty thing you embrace, Bonnie," Silas drawled, sauntering to where he had chained Bonnie to a chair. "The Caroline you knew is dead. I know this because I worked very hard to ensure it was so. All that's left is a shell who only wants revenge against _me_, and she won't care who she sacrifices to make it so. Forget about Caroline Forbes, and consider your own situation. You are trapped. As the only witch in your group, no spells can be used to trace you. The only thing keeping you alive is that you are useful to _me_. I happen to know you have a cousin who still lives. Defy me, and I'll kill you and find her. And if you are about to tell me to go ahead, then tell me this—if you die, who _will_ protect Caroline from me? As I said, you are the only witch. So consider all your options, Miss Bennet. I'll be back to talk with you again. I do hope your answer is the right one."

"Why are you taking on her form?" Bonnie called at Silas' retreating back. The question caused the warlock to pause, so Bonnie continued. "Does it give you some sort of sick kick, to take on her form?"

"It is a lovely body," Silas murmured, running his hands down the sides of his Caroline form. "That's not the reason why I find Caroline so very tempting, of course, but it doesn't hurt. There are very few in this day and age who can compare with her. But if you're wondering if I'm getting some sort of pleasure out of taking on her form and doing naughty things to it in private, the answer is no. The illusion doesn't extend to me. When I look in the mirror, I do not see Caroline. I see me. The reason I appear to this to you, is to remind you that you have so much to lose, Bonnie. I've watched your group since I was released. At first I thought to take on the lovely Elena's form when approaching you. You all fall over yourselves to please her. Then I realized that wouldn't work, because while you would die for Elena, you would kill for Caroline. And for a witch, that is a far larger sacrifice. Three hours, Bonnie. That's how long I'll be gone."

Then Silas was gone, and Bonnie was left to consider her options.

She didn't have many.

When Elijah returned to the manor with his siblings, he knew immediately upon crossing the threshold that something was wrong.

"Something is wrong," Rebekah said, echoing Elijah's thoughts. Niklaus said nothing, instead flashing into the house. They had been called to the Salvatore boarding house ninety minutes earlier, because Stefan had discovered that Bonnie Bennett had gone missing. That Silas was loose and a Bennett descendant missing had sent alarm bells ringing in everyone's minds, and so the Originals returned home on high alert.

And now something was wrong.

Rebekah and Elijah followed Niklaus and entered the study just in time to witness him throw an empty glass against the wall in a rage. On the floor, Elena Gilbert gave a low groan and began to slowly push herself off the floor. A handful of wooden bullets lay on the floor beneath her.

"That bitch," the doppleganger snarled. "She shot me!"

"Be very careful," Klaus warned, turning slowly to Elena, "very careful, before saying another word about Caroline. You were tasked with one job: to keep her safe and _here_, and you _failed_, so think. Because I have every reason to rip your head off your shoulders. Do you really wish to give me another?"

"She's not home, anymore," Elena shot back. "The Caroline you got all obsessed over died with Matt and Liz. Is the fact that she shot me not proof enough of that?"

"She didn't kill you," Elijah mused, noting the holes in Elena's shirt with interest. "She could have. I have heard that you would have killed her, _and_ her mother, had Stefan not interfered, yet when given the chance, she chose not to kill you. Those wounds are precise. Any further to the left, and you would no longer be standing here. I didn't realize that Miss Forbes was such a sharpshooter."

Both Klaus and Rebekah stared at Elijah, and Elena looked down and fingered the holes in her shirt with an odd expression on her face.

"I didn't know she was, either," the brunette admitted, her fingers clutching the material over her chest. "She never mentioned it. Never even hinted at it." Elena met Elijah's gaze, but her expression remained internal. "Me. Damon. Even the three of you. She could have killed all of us at any point. She had one of the white oak stakes. Turn that into a bullet, and she could have killed everyone, and we would have never suspected it, because she didn't tell anyone." Elena's expression became troubled and her gaze on Elijah's face sharpened. "Why didn't she? She had every reason to kill Damon. I always assumed she didn't because he was so much older. Me? She had the gun pointed at me, and she didn't put one into my heart. And you?" her gaze turned to Klaus. "If she's such a crack shot, why didn't she kill you then, before we knew about the bloodlines?"

"I would guess that she didn't want anyone to know," Rebekah replied. "Caroline wanted normal. She wanted human. A gun toting cheerleader isn't normal. A gun toting vampire is neither normal nor human. Without her humanity on, she no longer cares. She must have taken them from her mother's house. When I was talking to Nik she went downstairs. She must have taken the gun and bullets while I was distracted."

"None of this matters," Niklaus snarled, breaking into the conversation. "What matters is where Caroline is. What did you do, that caused her to shoot you?"

"We were having a very frank discussion about our new realities. Caroline didn't care for the truth, and then she shot me. Called me a Katherine imitation while she was at it," Elena looked particularly miffed about that. "Said why would anyone want a cheap imitation when Katherine is better at it. I'm not fucking Katherine!"

"No, you're not," Elijah agreed, thinking of the sultry Petrova he had gotten close to in the last months. He considered Caroline's words. "What else did you talk about?"

"What do you think?" Elena replied. "She's obsessed with killing Silas and wanted me to help. I refused, and that's when we got into it."

Caroline wanted help with her suicidal scheme, but no one would give it to her. Because they all feared Niklaus.

But there was someone that would love to stick it to Niklaus, someone that wouldn't care if Caroline had to get hurt to do so. Elijah flashed out of the room and to his own quarters.

They had been ransacked.

The cure? Gone.

The cell Elijah used to contact Katerina? Gone.

The scent of Caroline? Permeating the air.

"Where is Katerina, brother?" Niklaus asked softly from the doorway. He had followed Elijah upstairs, and had obviously connected the dots as well.

"By now?" Elijah replied, looking back at his brother helplessly. "I imagine I haven't a clue."

**AN: And there you have it. Caroline utilizes her shooting abilities and decides to get some help from an unexpected source. Silas lays it out to Bonnie, because someone really does need to remind her that she needs a sense of self-preservation (not that it really matters now in canon-verse), and the shit is about to hit the fan at the Mikaelson home.**

**Thank-you for everyone who has reviewed, and please continue to do so. If you have any questions, ask and I'll answer them in a PM if you have an account, or in the next chapter, if you don't.**


	10. Guillotine

_**AN: So, it's been a while. But, the update is over 3000 words, so yay! I had to re-write this chapter, and then sit on it for a while before posting. You'll understand the reason for that when you get to the end. Thank-you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. Please enjoy:**_

**Nine. Guillotine**

"_You'll fall like a guillotine, and kneel before the queen." – Guillotine, Yadi_

Katherine sat at a table in the shady trucker's diner that she had chosen for the meeting. When her phone had rung, showing Elijah's number, she had been surprised but elated. Katherine had been certain that giving him the cure, one of the few selfless things she had done in centuries, had also meant saying good-bye.

Then the caller turned out to be Caroline Forbes.

Of all the people to be calling her, Caroline was the last person Katherine would have expected. And that's why she now sat in an uncomfortable seat in a greasy little side joint five hours outside of Mystic Falls. Because Katherine didn't think much about Caroline these days, having written her off as a plan gone bad, but Katherine was sure Caroline thought about _her_. And not in a good way.

"Your paranoia is showing, Katherine. Klaus isn't after you right now, so I don't get the need for meeting in a glorified rat den."

Caroline slid into the seat across from Katherine, and the two vampires eyed each other coolly. Caroline was inherently different, Katherine noted. Not her appearance, of course, but the very nature of her movements and the air around her. She was…

_Cold._

"Little Miss Sunshine turned it off. Now there must be a story behind that."

"It comes and goes," Caroline replied. "I suggest we put the stories aside while it's here. Otherwise, I'll likely rip your head off your neck and give all these nice truckers a show they'll never forget."

"You'll try. And fail. Just like everyone else," Katherine responded, feigning a yawn.

"I'll try and succeed. I've been the target of a two thousand year old immortal warlock who enjoys utilizing mental torture. You don't scare me anymore, _Katerina_, so let's cut the bull shit where we threaten each other and get down to business. I took this from Elijah." Caroline held up a very familiar vial. The cure.

"I gave that to Elijah so he could do with it as he pleased. _Not_ so you could steal it," Katherine snapped.

"You killed Jeremy to get it. You have no moral high ground to stand on, so don't try for one. I have it now, and I want to shove it down Silas' throat. No one else will help me because they all think Klaus will kill them if they do, so that only leaves me with you. Now, since he already pretty much wants you dead, I suppose you won't really care about the death warrant that comes with assisting me as long as you get to piss off Klaus. Am I right?"

"Only if it means Klaus winds up dead afterwards." Katherine pretended to be engrossed in her nails. "Why would he care about what happens to you anyways?"

"Why do you think?"

Katherine scoffed at the blonde's words.

"If you're trying to tell me that _Klaus_ cares about you, then you're delusional. Klaus cares about himself and revenge; nothing else."

"Says the woman who hasn't spoken more than five words to him in five hundred years," Caroline replied, looking at the laminated menu in front of her with blank eyes. "Just because he's the only male this side of the Atlantic who doesn't get all hot and bothered over dopplegangers doesn't mean he's incapable of caring for someone else."

"Harsh words from the best friend of one of those dopplegangers," Katherine said idly, looking at Caroline from below lowered eyelashes. The brunette wouldn't pretend she knew Caroline in any way, but she did remember how easily the blonde had been to manipulate. _This_ Caroline was a far cry from the scared little newborn who had wanted so desperately to protect Matthew Donovan.

"Elena and I are currently having a difference of opinion," Caroline responded coolly. "I think she's pretty much useless, she disagrees. Typical girl problems."

"That's cute, but off topic. What's to stop me from snapping your neck and taking both you and the cure back to Klaus as a peace offering for my freedom?" Katherine demanded, forward in the uncomfortable seat.

"Silas is the oldest immortal in the world. He's also the only _true_ immortal. All you need to do is lend me a hand, and you'll come out the other side utterly indestructible. Even against Klaus."

Katherine raised her eyebrows and tapped her perfectly trimmed nails on the table top.

"I'm listening."

STILL-DOLL

Caroline has always understood people. No one ever gave her credit for the ability, but it was one of the reasons she was so successful in all her community endeavours. Caroline knew what people wanted to hear, what they wanted to see, what they wanted her to be, and she made sure that she gave them all those things.

Katherine Pierce was no different. In fact, her wants were simpler than most.

Katherine simply wanted safety. All Caroline had to do was offer her that safety, and the elder doppleganger would do whatever Caroline said.

Caroline wanted to roll her eyes at the predictability of it, but that wasn't what Katherine wanted to see from her. Katherine wanted desperation and fear, or at least a hint of it in Caroline's emotionless expression. Katherine wanted a sign that she was in control of the situation. Caroline had no problem with giving her that sign.

Let Katherine believe she was in control. It didn't matter to Caroline.

"You have connections. Five hundred years of them," Caroline said, tapping her fingers on the tabletop. "Those connections were good enough to keep you hidden from Klaus. I need you to use them to get me information about Silas."

"There is no information about Silas," Katherine responded abruptly. "Just rumors and myth. If that's all you called me for, you're wasting both our time. Go back to Klaus and hide behind him."

Caroline fought back a flinch at Katherine's barb, because it hit so very close to home. It was tempting, to retreat back to Mystic Falls and let Klaus and Elijah take care of Silas. But Silas destroyed something inside of Caroline, and she knew deep in her bones that if she stood any chance of salvaging anything of the Caroline who existed before, then she _has_ to be the one to do this, the one to bring Silas to his knees. It's the only way she'll be able to look in the mirror in the morning, even knowing she killed Matt. Because that guilt will never go away, but at least she'll be sure that no one else will fall victim to Silas' cruel form of torture. It's the only way she'll ever be able to reclaim some of that light Klaus claimed to so enjoy in her.

But all of that is something Katherine will never understand, because Katherine has killed everything human in herself in the past five centuries, so she would never lose sleep over the murder of one simple human boy.

"You had one of the Five in the palm of your hand. Stefan told me about Galen Vaughn. Where is he now?" Caroline responded, fighting down the anger and grief she can feel in the back of her mind. She is dealing with a master of manipulation; now is _not_ the time for her switch to malfunction again.

"I don't know. I left him in the hands of Rebekah and Damon on that island. They probably killed him," Katherine replied, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Why do you want one of the Five? You're not me, Caroline. You wouldn't be able to charm him into helping one of the evil undead."

"The purpose of the Five is to kill Silas, _Katerina_," Caroline sneered. "If anyone knows more than rumor and myth, it's that man. Rebekah and Damon left him on the island. Let's hope to God that he's not dead by the time we get there."

Caroline grabs her purse and slides out of the booth, heading for the door. Katherine is hot on her heels.

"What do you mean _we_?" Katherine demanded. "I made it clear; your plan is as pathetic as you are. I'm not going to have anything to do with it."

"You know, you and Elena are irritatingly alike. I'm really sick of being called pathetic by the girls who only feel an iota of self-worth if they're coming between brothers."

Katherine opens her mouth to reply, but Caroline reacts much as she had with Elena. Before the older Petrova can speak, Caroline has put a wooden bullet between her eyes. The shock of the pain distracts Katherine, allowing Caroline to move behind her and snap the brunette's neck. Katherine tumbled to the ground and Caroline re-engages the safety on her gun and puts it back in her purse. The whole process takes less than a minute, and Caroline is left in the diner with a collapsed Katherine and four gawking humans. Caroline met the eye of the waitress behind the counter for a second before the waitress leapt for the phone. Caroline is there to grab her hand in a painful grip before she ever reaches the wall unit. The waitress looks at Caroline with fear in her eyes and Caroline gives her a small smile. She can see her reflection in the waitress' glasses. The smile was chilling, Caroline's eyes were dead. The sight made the smile melt away as Caroline addressed the waitress.

"You don't really want to do that. Why don't we sit down and have a chat. _All _of us."

STILL-DOLL

"What do you mean Blondie is missing?" Damon asked when the Originals showed up at the boarding house to hand over a still-fuming Elena.

"They mean she's lost it. She shot me and ran off with the cure and a cellphone Elijah has to get in touch with Katherine," Elena responded with a pout, but Stefan noticed that she didn't exactly push Damon away as he inspected her for injury. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the attention. Not for the first time since Elena turned off her switch, Stefan wondered how much of what he was seeing was the real Elena Gilbert. The thought hurt; he had loved her so much once, and his cynical thoughts towards her now just showed how far they had fallen.

"Why Katherine?" Stefan asked, determined to focus on saving the blonde who had shown him such loyalty in the past months. Caroline didn't deserve this; no one did, but Caroline even less than most.

"Who else would help her?" Klaus replied. "Who else would risk my wrath? The next time I see Katerina Petrova, I am going to rip her head off."

"You will do no such thing," Elijah growled. "As to the why, who can really know? Caroline is determined that Silas die by her hand, and by all reports the girl is unstable at best. Whatever madness drove her to seek out Katerina is very likely to get her killed."

Klaus muttered a curse and turned from the group, running a hand through his hair. Stefan imagined the situation was killing him. Until Silas, Klaus had been the most dangerous being on the earth. Now, he was left as helpless as the rest of them, fearing Silas' next move while Caroline ran across the country recklessly. Caroline was his best friend, but Stefan wouldn't pretend to know her well enough to guess where she was going. With Elena in her current state, Matt dead, and Bonnie missing, there was no one who could make that claim. No one but…

"We need Tyler," Stefan stated, putting as much conviction into his words as he could. He needed Klaus to get on board with his idea.

"Excuse me?" Klaus asked, his voice dangerously soft. "I thought I heard you say we needed Tyler, but I'm positive I must be mistaken. Because everyone _knows_ the Lockwood boy is persona non grata in my books, and that means they wouldn't _dare_ bring his name up to me. Especially _not. Right. Now._"

"He knows her, Klaus," Stefan argued. "Better than anyone, probably. You may hate him, but Caroline _loves_ him, and he loves her. If anyone knows Caroline, knows the way she thinks, it would be Tyler Lockwood."

"Out of the question," Klaus replied. "Besides, we have the lovely Elena. Surely Caroline's _best friend_ knows her better than a boy who would have merely held her back."

"Jealous much?" Elena asked with an eye roll. "Well, get over it. If you love Caroline as much as everyone _seems _ to think, you'll listen to Stefan. Honestly, I've _never_ understood how that girl thinks, but Tyler seemed able to tolerate her, so he must have seen something I didn't."

In a flash, Elena is pinned to the wall by Klaus' hand around her throat.

"I am getting sick of your apathy, _Doppleganger_. If you have nothing of value to contribute to the conversation, then _stop contributing_. I'll even help."

Klaus snapped Elena's neck and dropped her dead weight to the ground.

"Now, as I was saying, Tyler Lockwood is out of the question. Get a better plan, Stefan."

The other four inhabitants of the room exchanged uneasy glances. Elijah and Rebekah seemed to be having some sort of silent debate, and Elijah finally broke their eye contact with a heavy sigh. He took a step towards Klaus, his hand outstretched, as if to calm a particularly difficult horse.

"Now, Niklaus, I know this scenario seems less than ideal, but as you are determined to find Miss Forbes, and the only ones who know the girl particularly well seem to think this is the solution, perhaps you should consider it."

Klaus snarled soundlessly at his brother.

"Really, Niklaus, it seems to be the only way. Of course, we could just stand back and see where Caroline's plots take her. Perhaps she'll manage to put a bullet or two into Silas before he decides to end her… or takes her hostage again. The last time, he destroyed her humanity. Who knows what a second round might do?"

For a moment, Stefan feared Klaus was going to let his anger and jealously rule him and refuse again, but after a moment, his shoulders dropped in resignation. He turned angry blue eyes to Stefan.

"You'll be the one to find him and bring him back, Ripper. As soon as this Silas debacle is over, he leaves again. If he successfully helps to return Caroline, I will not actively hunt him, but I will kill him should he ever cross my sight after this temporary truce is over. And make sure you make it _very_ clear that should I so much as _suspect_ treachery on his behalf, I will rip his heart out."

Klaus left Stefan to figure out how the hell to find Tyler, his siblings trailing behind him. As the door shut, Elena let out a groan and sat up.

"What the hell is wrong with people lately?" she demanded rubbing her neck. "Can no one accept the truth anymore?"

Stefan thought it best to leave before he snapped the brunette's neck himself. Damon would take care of Elena. Stefan had a werewolf to find.

STILL-DOLL

"We tried to break the bloodlines once," Bonnie said when Silas once again entered the caves. He had been gone all night, far longer than the three hours he had promised, and his expression was irritated and frustrated. Bonnie had seen Caroline irritated and frustrated before, and it looked nothing like the way Silas wore it. With Caroline, it was a sort of angry kitten expression; cute more than frightening. Silas, however, frightened Bonnie. His irritation seemed to lower the temperature of the catacomb by several degrees and there was a darkness in his eyes that Bonnie could never imagine Caroline having, even without her humanity.

"I am perfectly aware of that, Miss Bennett. Telepath, remember?"

"Then you know it failed. Horribly. It can't be done. If Klaus dies, then Caroline dies as well. And neither of us want that."

"You didn't have _me_ before. I have the spell, I merely need you, a Bennett witch, to cast it. Imagine, Bonnie, a world without Klaus. No scary Hybrid lusting for Elena's blood and Caroline's body. You'd be _free_."

"Of Klaus. I don't think _you're_ much of an improve-" Bonnie was cut off as an invisible fist tightened like a vice around her throat. She opened and closed her mouth, a vain attempt to get air, but received nothing but the hazing of the edges of her vision.

"You _will _perform the spells, Bonnie. Now. Or I will kill everyone you love, starting with your mother. A lovely woman. Such a shame about the vampirism."

"You were so patient before," Bonnie muttered, rubbing her neck when Silas removed his magical hold on her throat. "What the hell happened to make you so angry?"

Silas doesn't answer. He turns in a swirl of Caroline's blonde hair and slams his fist against the wall, causing dust and debris to fall around him, some of it clinging to the blonde locks of hair. His eyes, _Caroline's_ eyes, darkened to black, delicate veins fanning out towards cheekbones. Looking at Silas, Bonnie was reminded of the night Caroline had turned, when she had killed a Carnie and Bonnie had turned her back on her best friend, an action that shamed the Bennett witch afterward, once she realized that vampire Caroline was the same as human Caroline, just more self-aware.

"Where would Caroline run to?" Silas demanded, once he had calmed down and evened out his fractured breathing. "Where would she feel most safe? You're her best friend, Bonnie. Prove it, and tell me _where she is_!"

"Caroline's gone?" Bonnie asked, and it felt as if a weight had lifted off her chest. For the first time since Silas had first taken Caroline, Bonnie felt as if she could breathe. Caroline was gone and Silas had no idea where. That meant that the blonde of free of Klaus, free of Silas, free of all of it. "Good. I hope she stays gone."

Silas is in front of Bonnie again, his fingers holding her jaw like a vice, digging in and sure to leave bruises. Bonnie didn't bother to fight against the grip; she knew she wasn't strong enough, but she didn't care. Because Caroline was gone, and that meant that Bonnie didn't have to stay. She didn't have to obey Silas, because as long as Caroline was gone, she didn't need Bonnie's protection.

"If you think she'll escape my grasp so easily, you're a fool Miss Bennett. But I shouldn't be surprised. The Bennett line has always been made of fools." Silas looks down at Bonnie, and his gaze turns almost sad as he moves his grip around to her neck. "Such a pity. You had such promise. But all of you Bennett witches… you always fall victim to love. You would think you would learn, eventually. As it is, you'll serve me better now if you aren't around. Perhaps your cousin will be more useful."

There was a loud crack, but Bonnie didn't hear it.

She was dead before the sound ever reached her ears.

_**AN: So, yeah… I killed Bonnie. She will continue to be a part of the story, because a big part of this is the bond between the Mystic Falls gang, particularly the three girls. But she's dead, and Silas is off to get Lucy who, as we all know, is a little darker than Bonnie. **_

_**I know a lot of you wanted more Klaroline, but it can't happen quite yet. Caroline needs to find herself again, and as much as I love Klaus, he's not what she needs at this exact moment. But Klaroline will come!**_

_**And before I get the hate for bringing Tyler into it… he **_**is** _**a big part of Caroline's life. They were friends before they dated, and that's what Caroline needs right now. She needs someone who knows who she is, because she can't remember. And Tyler is that person. There won't be a lot of Forwood loving, however. They're really more of a BrOTP to me than romantic, much like Steroline. So take some comfort form that.**_

_**Please leave me a few of your thoughts. I always love to hear them. **_


End file.
